Gulf Times – Swiss jet-man ditches in sea as Africa-to-Europe powered flight fails

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Swiss Yves Rossy ditched in the sea yesterday in a failed bid to fly from Africa to Europe using a jet-powered wing attached to his back, live television images showed. The 50-year-old former fighter pilot was seen in the water waving to rescuers before a helicopter approached and plucked him to safety. He had planned to fly 38km across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier in Morocco to Atlanterra in southern Spain, at a speed of 220km after leaping from a plane. After a 13-minute flight, Rossy was to cut his engines, open his parachute and land in Spain in what organisers said would have been the first crossing between Africa and Europe using a jet-powered wing.