Olympic Stuntman Mark Sutton Dies Following Wingsuit Accident

Mark Sutton died on Wednesday after he hit a mountain ridge while jumping out of a helicopter wearing a wingsuit.

Sutton is best known as the stuntman who played James Bond’s double at the London Olympics’ opening ceremony.

According to Swiss police, the 42-year-old Briton died after he jumped out of the helicopter with a friend. The tragic incident occurred above the Grandes-Otannes area.

In a statement, the Swiss police said the men jumped from a height of 10,826 feet and planned to land close to the hamlet of Le Peuty.

Wingsuits are specialized apparatuses that allow skydivers to cruise along at breakneck speeds before ultimately deploying their parachutes. The suits are often referred to as “birdman” or “flying squirrel” suits because of fabric that is placed under the wearers arms and between the legs. The suits allow wearers to simulate flying.

Before his tragic death Mark Sutton had posted various wingsuit flights to his YouTube account.

Sutton was in the area to film an extreme sport video for the internet. Organizer Epic TV released the following statement following Mark Sutton’s death:

“The accident occurred on the first day of the three-day event after several successful jumps had already been made… Rescue services arrived quickly and determined that Mr Sutton had immediately died upon impact.”

20 of the world’s best wingsuit pilots were invited to the event. Following Sutton’s death the remaining participants chose to continue their jumps “in tribute to Mark.”

The video at the top of this page pays tribute to the stuntman’s wingsuit adventures.

Sutton was equipped with a Gopro camera at the time of his tragic death. He was jumping with well-known wingsuit manufacturer Tony Uragallo.