'James Bond' Olympics Skydiver Dies in Accident

Mark Sutton hit mountain ridge while wing-diving
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 15, 2013 10:10 AM CDT
'James Bond' Olympics Skydiver Dies in Accident
Skydivers dressed as Queen Elizabeth II, left, and James Bond parachute over the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics, in this July 27, 2012 photo taken in London.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

Mark Sutton, the stuntman who parachuted into the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony as James Bond, died in a wing-diving accident yesterday. Sutton, 42, jumped from a helicopter at 10,826 feet in Switzerland wearing a "wingsuit," an aerodynamic jumpsuit that increases the body's surface area and allows the wearer to glide through the air before parachuting to the ground. But Sutton hit a mountain ridge, the Guardian reports.

Sutton was one of the best wingsuit pilots in the world, according to the editor-in-chief of Epic TV, which films extreme sports for online viewing and had invited Sutton to take part in a non-competitive event; he died on the first day. Another participant says Sutton "flew out of sight" before the accident occurred. A statement from Epic TV says he "immediately died upon impact." (More James Bond stories.)

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