Two wingsuit flyers die after Bern Alps crash

The three men jumped from a helicopter over the Lütschental valley in the central canton of Bern Saturday afternoon with the intention of landing in the valley, cantonal police said.

However, for some reason, all three crashed into the pasture near Sengg and when rescue workers reached the spot, the 33-year-old New Zealander and the 34-year-old Frenchman were already dead.

The third man, whose nationality and age were not given, was taken to hospital by helicopter, police said.

A relative of the man, in a comment on this article (see below), identified him as an American citizen.

Some 20 people are killed each year while taking part in the extreme sport.

Last August, wingsuit diver Mark Sutton, a stuntman who parachuted into the London 2012 Olympics dressed as James Bond, died from crashing into a mountain ridge in the Swiss Alps after jumping from a helicopter.