How the Jetman crashed

Yves ‘Jetman’ Rossy reveals the real reason behind his ditching

Yves "Jetman" Rossy ditched safely into the Atlantic on Wednesday while trying to cross the strait of Gibraltar using a single jet-propelled wing.

The 50 year old airline pilot and former fighter pilot, also known as 'Fusionman', had planned to cut his engines and parachute himself in southern Spain after a 15 minutes flight, but only minutes after launching himself from a plane about 1,950m above Tangiers, Morocco, a wing malfunction caused him to wander in thick clouds and lose his bearings.

“I wanted to go over them but I was too slow,” Rossy explained after having been rescued, unhurt and giving the thumbs-up sign, from the freezing ocean water. “My only instruments are my feelings and sight and without them I am lost.”

The Swiss daredevil rocketed into the Guinness Book of Records in 2008, when he became the first man to fly across the English Channel using a single jet-propelled wing. Wednesday's flight would have been the first instance of a man flying between two continents in this way.

Despite last week's setback, Rossy is sticking to his plans and will attempt to fly over the Grand Canyon in April 2010. He is also developing a new parachute to be opened safely at the terrifying height of 200m rather than the current 800m. Rossy says it will allow him to try and explore the wing's full potential.

"It's such a great feeling when you are flying like that," he added. "You are near a dream. The emotions are so strong, you become addicted."

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