Called an Extreme Sport With No Injuries... British Man in His Twenties Dies in the Alps

Wing suit flying stock photo unrelated to article content. Red Bull

A British wingsuit flyer in his twenties has died in an accident in the Swiss Alps. Wingsuits are suits inspired by the appearance of flying squirrels, and wingsuit flying is often referred to as an extreme sport with no injuries, as most accidents result in death.

On June 23 (local time), CNN in the United States reported that 24-year-old British wingsuit flyer Ryan Byrne died in an accident during a BASE jump in the Swiss Alps last Saturday. Byrne and two other wingsuit flyers began their jump from the summit of Gitschen Mountain in Switzerland, at an altitude of about 2,400 meters. However, for unknown reasons, Byrne deviated from the planned route. He crashed into a rock face at the 2,100-meter mark and died at the scene from fatal injuries.

Byrne, who grew up in a small village on the northeast coast of Scotland, was passionate about adventure and extreme sports. According to his LinkedIn profile, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro at the age of 12 and, at 14, traveled 500 kilometers across Norway, Sweden, and Finland by dog sled. At 19, he obtained a skydiving instructor qualification. In 2022, he became the British champion in the wingsuit category. Recently, he was also featured as the main character in the BBC documentary 'The Boy Who Can Fly.'