Space diver Felix Baumgartner was ‘born to fly’

Austrian daredevil "fearless Felix" Baumgartner, who died on Thursday aged 56, stunned fans around the world by breaking the sound barrier in a hair-raising dive from the fringe of space more than a decade ago.

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Vienna -

Baumgartner's dramatic 2012 jump from a capsule more than 39km above the earth propelled the extreme adventure-seeker into the record books.

Sporting a "born to fly" tattoo, Baumgartner recorded the fastest freefall by leaping from the capsule and reaching a top speed of 1357.6km/h.

Baumgartner died in a paragliding accident in Italy, after he spun out of control and crashed into the side of a swimming pool.