Base jumper, 73, dies in fireball stunt gone wrong

 
The daredevil died plunging from this bridge in the US
Mark Newman/Getty Images
Michael Howie20 May 2015

A 73-year-old base jumper who died after leaping from a bridge in the US state of Idaho had set his parachute on fire as part of a stunt, it emerged today.

A graphic video of the fatal jump was posted on YouTube showing someone engulfed in flames and falling from the Perrine Bridge into the Snake River 500 feet below.

James Hickey apparently planned to ditch the flaming parachute and deploy a second chute in the May 7 stunt.

Professional Base jumper Sean Chuma told Twin Falls newspaper The Times-News that he had heard Mr Hickey successfully performed the stunt skydiving.

The initial report from the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office said only that Mr Hickey’s parachute deployed too late.

The video shows two base jumpers climbing over the railing of the Perrine Bridge and leaping at about the same time.

But while one jumper glides safely away underneath a parachute, the other becomes engulfed in a fireball and falls quickly out of view.

A coroner’s report said Mr Hickey, of Claremont, California, died of blunt force trauma.

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