Jetpack Pilot Vince Reffet Died In Training Accident In Dubai

Vince Reffet, a French stuntman known for flying a jetpack, died Tuesday during a training session in Dubai. Reffet was 36 years old.

Jetman Dubai, the company for which Reffet flew, announced that he passed away Tuesday morning.

“Vince was a talented athlete, and a much-loved and respected member of our team. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all those who knew and worked with him,” Jetman Dubai said in a statement.

“We are working closely with all relevant authorities and ask that you please keep Vince’s family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Reffet went viral for the stunts he performed as a jetpack pilot. In February, he became the first person ever to transition to a high altitude flight from the ground with a jetpack. Before then, jetpack pilots began their flights from an elevated platform.

Reffet was moving at more than 150 miles per hour through the air with a jetpack during his historic flight, reaching an altitude of almost 6,000 feet above sea level.

The jetpack used by Reffett can reach speeds approaching 250 mph with a maximum altitude of 20,000 feet.

“It’s the sensation of freedom. Already, you know, when I am skydiving, I have like this feeling of freedom like I can pretty much go where I want, but always going down,” Reffet told Associated Press in 2015. “[But] with this machine I can fly like a bird.”

Reffet’s feats also included BASE jumping, which in 2014 he did from Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.