Swiss Rocketman unhurt after crash into Atlantic

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 00:42

A SWISS adventurer went down in the Atlantic yesterday while trying to fly from Morocco to Spain with a jet-powered wing strapped to his back.

A rescue helicopter pulled him from the water and he appeared unhurt.

Yves Rossy took off from Tangiers but halfway through an expected 15-minute flight he ditched into the wind-swept waters.

"Winds were certainly difficult today," the organisers' Twitter Web feed said.

Live television footage of the attempt showed Mr Rossy waving while in the water waiting to be rescued.

"He's a courageous man," Stuart Sterzel, spokesman for sponsors Webtel.mobi, told reporters on a beach outside the southern Spanish town of Atlanterra, where Rossy was supposed to land. He said Mr Rossy would probably attempt the crossing again in the New Year.

Mr Sterzel said the Spanish coastguard would retrieve the wing and the parachute from the sea.

Mr Rossy, a 50-year-old former fighter pilot, had attempted the feat wearing a homemade wing with a span of 8ft and powered by four kerosene-fuelled jet engines.

A small plane took him to an altitude of 6,500ft, Rossy then jumped out and began his flight.

His endeavour had been billed as the first intercontinental crossing by man using jet-powered wings.

Mr Rossy provided the first public demonstration of his home made aircraft in May 2008 over the Alps before touching down near the eastern shore of Lake Geneva.

He flew across the English Channel in September last year.