Inventions to Deathtraps: Creations That Devoured Its Creators
Franz Reichelt
Franz Reichelt was an Austrian-born French tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer. He is also referred to as the Flying Tailor and is remembered for his accidental death by jumping from the Eiffel Tower while testing a wearable parachute of his own design.
Reichelt intended to develop a suit for aviators that would convert into a parachute and allow them to survive a fall from their aircraft. Initial experiments conducted with dummies dropped from the fifth floor of his apartment building were successful, but he was unable to replicate those early successes with any of his subsequent designs.
Karel Soucek
Karel Soucek was a Canadian daredevil, best known as a stuntman who made it over Niagara Falls in his custom-made capsule. But his desire to recreate the famous stunt in a pool at the Houston Astrodome in 1985, proved to be fatal. The stunt went horribly wrong, and Soucek hit the rim of the pool instead of the centre. This caused the capsule to disintegrate and he sustained severe injuries, which eventually led to his demise.
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