Ian Flanders, a 37-year-old American BASE jumper, died in Turkey on Tuesday while participating in an extreme sporting event, making him the 264th jumper to die in action since record-keeping began.
Flanders, from Southern California, was taking part in an event that was being carried on a local TV station in Turkey as he jumped from the gorge of Karasu, or “dark water” river, in the
eastern part of the country, according to CBS News. After his first jump from the gorge, Flanders was thrilled with the scenic environment for his dangerous pastime.
“It was a gorgeous flight, a beautiful view of the town. You get to kind of fly over, fly over the town,” Flanders told the local television crew, according to CBS News. “We landed in the river, which was also actually kind of fun.”
But something went horribly wrong on his second jump on Tuesday, which was caught on camera. In the video, Flanders can be seen plummeting down the gorge as he tries to release his parachute, only to become tangled up in the cord as he careened towards his death, crashing into the rocky cliff before his
body tumbled into the river, according to the Daily Mail. A woman can be heard screaming as his body disappeared into the “dark water” river.
Although Flanders’ body was fished out and immediately taken to the Kemaliye State hospital, he died on impact, according to the Daily Mail. In a tragic twist of irony, Flanders’ untimely death occurred in the midst of his filming for a documentary project about the most recent deaths in the BASE jumping community.
BASE jumping, which stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans, and Earth, is illegal in all national parks in the U.S., according to the Daily Mail. Although the extreme sport has its enthusiastic and vocal supporters, many are concerned by the growing number of deaths associated with the sport.
“Everyone in this sport has now seen enough really skilled,
careful people die,” climber Chris McNamara told People magazine. “There's just this very thin margin of how things can go from 'totally fine' to 'it's over.' And it's really hard to do this sport a lot and have that margin not catch up with you.”
“The BASE jumping and, especially the wingsuit community, is facing a real epidemic right now. Wingsuiters are dying at a rate unheard of in any other sport. It seems like not a month goes by without a well-known BASE jumper or wing-suit flyer dying these days,” said Outside magazine editor Grayson Schaffer, according to CBS News.