The last flight: the tragic death of the “birdman”

His exploits in the air made him known around the world as “the bird man” or “the flying man”. But Vince Reffet, who performed spectacular pirouettes hundreds of meters high with Soul Flyers teammate Fred Fugen, died in a training accident yesterday, a spokesperson for Jetman Dubai said.

Reffet, 36, was known to have entered a mid-air plane in 2017, but also for having jumped off the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa (828 meters) in Dubai, or for flying alongside the squad. acrobatic military Patrol of France, in 2016.

“With unimaginable sadness, we announce the death of Jetman pilot Vincent (Vince) Reffet, who died during training in Dubai,” said Jetman Dubai spokesman Abdullah bin Habtour.

The incident, which occurred at the Jetman base in the desert outside the city, is being investigated, Abdullah bin Habtour said.

The exploits of the athlete, a former member of the France skydiving team and associated with Fugen (41) for 20 years, went viral earlier this year, with a video of him taking off from the ground and flying up to at an altitude of 1800 meters.

To achieve this, Reffet had been fitted with a carbon fiber wing and powered by four mini jet engines. Controlled by the human body, the equipment allows the Jetman to reach speeds of 400 km / h and change direction of flight.