Industry News
CBS video report about Ian Flander’s death in Turkey this week.
“Wingsuiters are dying at a rate that is unheard of in any of sport. It seems like not a month goes by without a well known wingsuiter/BASE jumper dying these days.” – Outside magazine editor, Grayson Schaffer
Californian BASE jumper Ian Flanders, 37, died while BASE jumping Tuesday this week in eastern Turkey after jumping from a cable car suspended 900-feet off the ground. The lines of his parachute got tangled in his legs during his jump. Search and rescue recovered his body from the Karasu River. Turkish television released footage of the accident.
Ian was working on a documentary film about the flurry of recent BASE jumping deaths worldwide.
“At the time of his death, Flanders was actually working on a documentary about all of the deaths that have been happening in the BASE world, and… it’s just an incredible tragedy that he would die this way.” – Outside magazine, Grayson Schaffer
Ian was in Turkey attending the International nature Sports Festival with many of extreme athletes at the time of his death. The festival was stopped after Ian’s death.
This BASE jumping death comes directly on the heels of the BASE jumping deaths of the legendary Dean Potter and his jumping buddy Graham Hunt in Yosemite, CA in May.
Ian had said this about this jump location:
“The wingsuit flight was great, it was a gorgeous flight. You get to kind of fly over the town. We landed in the river, which was also actually kind of fun. It’s a pretty technical jump, but overall it was a lot of fun. It was great, and this place is fantastic.” – Ian Flanders
264 people have died BASE Jumping/ Wingsuit flying to date.
Kinda… it should become illegal (at least in the U S).
Sad to see so many get killed, but it shouldn’t be such a big surprise. It’s almost like it’s kinda dangerous to huck yourself off an enormous cliff or something.