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From Jetman to very wet man
Ross Lydall and Mark Prigg26.11.09
He jumped from a plane like Buzz Lightyear, with the dream of using a rocket-propelled wing to become the first man to fly this way between continents.
But the hopes of Swiss daredevil Yves Rossy were dashed this afternoon when he ended up ditched in the Atlantic short of the Spanish coastline.
Rossy, 50, had thrown himself out of a propeller plane at 6,500 feet over Tangier with the self-designed carbon wing attached to his back.
It was powered by four rockets and had just enough fuel to cross to Tarifa on the south-western tip of Spain.
Wisely, Rossy, who a year ago made history when he crossed the Channel by flying from Calais to Dover, had packed a parachute alongside his flame-retardant jumpsuit.
Leaping from the plane at 2.10pm UK time, he was lost from the sight of following TV cameras in thick cloud.
When there was no sight of him 15 minutes later on the landing beach, it was clear something was awry. The 23-mile trip, at speeds approaching 180mph, should have taken 12 or 13 minutes.
Somewhat predictably for the modern era, word of his downfall arrived via Twitter.
One of his support team had posted a message that Rossy had fallen into the sea.
The plan had been for the professional airline pilot to tumble 500 feet from the plane before firing the rockets to lift him back to a cruising altitude over the Strait of Gibraltar.
He steered the wing by moving his body from side to side, and increased the rocket thrust with a motorbike-style grip.
But he was next seen, with the 8ft, 132lb wing still attached to his back, swimming in the ocean, his parachute floating beside him.
Before the attempt, Rossy said the main dangers were engine failure or losing control. "If I land in the water, there are people to come and get me," he said. And come they did.
