The Death Jump

The Death Jump

Franz Reichelt was born on 16 October 1878. At the age of 20, He moved to Paris and started his own dressmaking business. Franz had a great interest in the Parachutes and wanted to develop a suit for aviators. So, he invented a parachute at his home. Franz conducted initial experiments with dummies by dropping them from 5th floor of his apartment and the experiments were a success.

Franz believed only a high platform can prove his suit’s ability and received permission to conduct a test from Eiffel Tower. On 4th February 1912, he jumped from Eiffel Tower wearing his invention. But sadly the parachute failed to deploy. Franz fell 187 ft straight to the ground and died on the spot.