Daredevil wingsuit pilot killed after diving off 1,000ft mountain and crashing at 120mph
One of the world’s most renowned wingsuit pilots has died after diving off a famous South African mountain and hitting rocks below.
Daredevil Brendan Weinsten, 32, did not manage to pull up in time and was seen by tourists smashing into large boulders close to Table Mountain in South Africa.
Pilot Weinstein – who leaves behind partner Kivia Martins and a baby son, Eiger – had travelled to Cape Town alone to do the difficult flight.
It’s believed the Red Bull star took a cable car to the top, hiding his parachute and wingsuit from staff who would have stopped him if they had seen them.
He then walked to the spot where he jumped around 9am, and was spotted by dozens of American and British tourists who witnessed him fall.
Weinstein, originally from Utah, had completed over 1600 wing suit flights, 800 base jumps and 1000 parachute jumps and was a world expert.
But on Monday morning, when he dived off the 1086m high Table Mountain, he crashed at a speed of 120mph.
Wilderness Search & Rescue and SanParks rangers were alerted and sent teams along with a helicopter to search the front of the mountain for his body.
The severely injured pilot was found at 10am and airlifted by helicopter off Table Mountain to an ambulance surrounded by tourists on the road below.
Former South African skydiver Jeff Ayliffe says the jump was highly technical and that Weinstein had reportedly flown directly from the US to the site without consulting local base jumpers.
He said: ‘Brendan hadn’t contacted any of the local base jumping fraternity to speak to them about this exit point, and this exit point has been jumped many times successfully.
‘It is a very technical jump, however, and it had very sad consequences. Brendan Weinstein is considered one of the most experienced base jumpers in the world, and he has a huge following in America.
‘His technical ability is incredible; he’s done many, many jumps. This is only our third base jumping death in South Africa.’
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