Rocketman Attempts a Record
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Swiss adventurer has crashed into the sea on what was supposed to be a record-setting journey. Yves Rossy hoped to become the first person to make an intercontinental flight with a jet pack by crossing the Straits of Gibraltar. Designed by Rossy, the rocket-powered wing is made of carbon fiber. With fuel it weighs around 132 pounds, and because of the dangers involved, he wears a flame retardant suit. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576841,00.html">Read more</a>
Known as Switzerland’s "Fusion Man," Rossy in November 2006 became the first man in the world to fly with wings and four jet engines strapped to his body.
The inaugural flight lasted six minutes in Bex, Switzerland, and included an emergency parachute programmed to automatically open if he were to black out.
In Internet videos, Rossy wears a white helmet with the words "Jet-Man" on the front, dives out of a plane, fires up his wings and propels through the atmosphere, leaving a trail of special-effects white smoke in his wake.
Rossy launch his record attempt from the skies above Tangier in Morocco on Wednesday, jumping out of a light airplane from 6,500 feet above the ground. Once airborne he unleashed his wings and fired up his engines. (Fox News)
He was followed throughout the attempt by a team of paramedics in a helicopter, which was challenged to follow him via camera. For several minutes, the team lost sight of the adventurer, eventually locating him in the ocean about halfway through a flight that was expected to last 15 minutes. (Fox News)
"Winds were certainly difficult today," the organizers' Twitter Web feed said. (Fox News)
"He's a courageous man," Stuart Sterzel, spokesman for sponsors Webtel.mobi, told reporters on a beach outside this southern Spanish town, where Rossy was supposed to land. (Fox News)
A rescuer dropped from the plane into the stormy seas and pulled Rossy to safety, though it was unclear what happened to the wing itself. Designed by Rossy, the wing is made of carbon fiber. With fuel it weighs around 132 pounds, and because of the dangers involved, he wears a flame retardant suit. (Fox News)
A rescuer dropped from the plane into the stormy seas and pulled Rossy to safety, though it was unclear what happened to the wing itself. Designed by Rossy, the wing is made of carbon fiber. With fuel it weighs around 132 pounds, and because of the dangers involved, he wears a flame retardant suit. (Fox News)
(Fox News)
(Fox News)