Thread: Eiffel Tower suicides...& Franz Reichelt tribute.

Security was stepped up around the Eiffel Tower today after an English-speaking man climbed to the top and then jumped to his death.
The 25-year-old suicide victim, who has not been named but who came from Israel, was spotted at the Paris tourist attraction late on Sunday evening.

Police evacuated and sealed off the area after the man was seen scaling the 1,063ft tower, at around 11.30pm.
He evaded all security and almost reached the very summit of the historic 1,063ft (324m) structure before hurling himself off.

Eerily, a woman attempted a copycat suicide on Monday morning, but that failed when the authorities intervened by helicopter before she had got high enough to hurt herself.

The last suicide was in 2009, when an 18-year-old Brazilian girl leapt from the tower's 170ft-high first floor, before crashing into the Altitude 95 restaurant on the first tier of the structure.

Horror as tourist climbs the Eiffel tower and then jumps to his death | Mail Online

There have been 341 successful suicide attempts from the tower. In an average year, four people end their lives by jumping from the structure, although the recent installation of safety nets has helped to keep the number low.

The first death was in 1911 - 22 years after the tower opened to the public - when tailor Frantz Reichelt fell to his death testing a cape that he believed would enable him to fly.

His fall was captured on film and he left a foot-deep impression in the grass at the base of the tower.







Franz completes a successful test jump of 3 metres onto hay:






'Now I will prove my invention.'






'Merde'










There is a Pathe newsreel clip of his attempt on youtube but I can't view it because youtube is blocked at my work... Maybe somebody could find it and embed it here...

^ Well at least we know what the last thing that went through his mind was.....









His arse.

Damn, tragic -- but also pretty dumb.

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Rather than go to all the trouble with nets and helicopters, why not just build a launching platform like a diving board, and build a nice concrete landing pad.

Add on a spectator gallery, sell tickets and popcorn and beer and raincoats to keep the goo from splatting up the Sunday best.

^ goes without saying.

Forgot about the sunglasses.
Needed to reduce the impact of a piss poor pun - or getting an eyefull.

Originally Posted by rawlins

Eerily, a woman attempted a copycat suicide on Monday morning, but that failed when the authorities intervened by helicopter before she had got high enough to hurt herself.

How high is enough to cause injury ?

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Damn, tragic -- but also pretty dumb.

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Sorry, but..

Heroic stupidity exhibited by Franz there. The people "rescuing" his body would have made sure he was crippled for life, even if he had survived.

He certainly made an impression though. - About 120mm ?

Good idea, bad equipment.

What is it they say, if at first you don't succeed, maybe parachuting is not for you.
Anyway, that was the first base jump.

Originally Posted by kmart

Heroic stupidity exhibited by Franz there. The people "rescuing" his body would have made sure he was crippled for life, even if he had survived.

He certainly made an impression though. - About 120mm ?

You just knew that he had an idea this wasn't going to end well - you saw how he was hesitating (as the newsreel commentary pointed out as well), but finally he did jump....

He should be the Patron Saint of Pattaya Expats - we should sell amulets of Saint Franz to expats.

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Damn, tragic -- but also pretty dumb.

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Is this the Pattaya section of the forum ? I thought i was in the lounge

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

You just knew that he had an idea this wasn't going to end well - you saw how he was hesitating (as the newsreel commentary pointed out as well), but finally he did jump....

Yep. I've watched it a few times now, and I agree. I wonder if he'd just talked or publicized himself into a corner with this daft claim, or if somebody else was manipulating him? You'd think he might have tested his 'wonder cape' at a bit higher then 3m, before charging up the Eiffel Tower?

Either way, Darwin vindicated.

Edit: From wiki:

Franz Reichelt, also known as Frantz Reichelt[1] or François Reichelt (1879 – February 4, 1912), was an Austrian-born French tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer, now sometimes referred to as the Flying Tailor, who is remembered for his accidental death by jumping from the Eiffel Tower while testing a wearable parachute of his own design. Reichelt had become fixated on developing a suit for aviators that would convert into a parachute and allow them to survive a fall should they be forced to leave their aircraft. Initial experiments conducted with dummies dropped from the fifth floor of his apartment building had been successful, but he was unable to replicate those early successes with any of his subsequent designs.

rest of page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Reichelt

It's quite interesting how people risk their lives to invent something new to help others.