British base jumper, 65, dies in Italy after leaping from a mountain while wearing a wing suit

A British base jumper has died after falling 400 meters from a mountain top in Italy.

Mark Andrews, 65, originally from Redruth, Cornwall, died instantly after falling off the cliff face in Trentino, while wearing a wing suit.

It is believed he was wearing a parachute, but it remains unclear if he failed to deploy it, with police saying the exact circumstances are under investigation.

The tragic accident happened Saturday morning at a popular base jumping spot in the Italian Dolomites near Paganella, near the city of Trento.

Mr Andrews reportedly went to the site on his own, before a fellow base jumper called emergency services after seeing the horrific incident unfold.

It is clear that Mr Andrews died very close to the spot where another British paratrooper died exactly one year earlier.

Mr. Andrews, who lived in Bucharest, Romania with his wife, was an avid base jumping enthusiast and often posted clips of his escapades.

He had also lived in Russia.

The 65-year-old retired engineer would have been a relative latecomer to base jumping as a sport, but had completed nearly 600 jumps before his death.

A mountain rescue helicopter was deployed to recover his body and he was later flown to a nearby hospital to await repatriation.

A base jumper Mark knew said, “He got into base jumping pretty late. He’s only been doing it since 2014, but he’s put a lot into those nine years.

“He was fearless and will be missed. He was a regular in Italy at various base jumping events, but had also done base jumps from bridges and skyscrapers around the world.

‘He lived in Moscow and was a drilling engineer, but then he moved to Bucharest, where his wife is from.’

Another base jumper said: ‘The area where the accident happened is one of the most dangerous and is only considered by experts as it is quite tricky.

‘It’s not a straight forward descent, there are rock and tree ledges for the first 400m before it goes straight down for 1500m.

“You also have to be careful with the wind and that’s why only experienced professionals jump from that point while others go to another location, about 30 km away at Mt Brenta.”

Clips on his Instagram show the daredevil leaping from impressive mountain peaks in countries across Europe; including Norway, Italy and Russia.

He was a member of the base jumping group Lean To Base Jump.

A person who answered the phone at their Swiss headquarters confirmed that they knew Mark but did not want to discuss the accident.

The Foreign Office told MailOnline: ‘We are in contact with local police following the death of a British man in Italy and are supporting his family’.

BASE jumping involves jumping from fixed objects and using a parachute to descend to the ground and the stands for buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).

The extreme sport has claimed the lives of more than 400 people in the past twenty years.

According to Italian media reports, another British base jumper was killed near the spot where Mr Andrews died on the same day last year.

Dylan Morris Roberts, 33, died instantly after hitting a gully near Mount Cimone on June 2, 2022. He was killed after jumping from an 800m high ledge known as ‘Happy Birthday’ on the 1500m Monte Brento in the Trentino region of northern Italy.

Clearly, the professional base jumper’s parachute failed to open and his friends thought he might have misjudged his job.

Bystanders said he fell 200 meters and appeared to hit the side of the mountain after takeoff and his body was recovered by mountain rescue teams.

The 33-year-old was an experienced skydiver who had completed dozens of jumps and was also a former instructor at UK paratrooper schools.

He had combined his love for skydiving with the extreme sport of base jumping.