An Inventor Determined to Prove His Invention
Franz Reichelt (1879 – 1912), a French tailor with a passion for flight, gained notoriety for his tragicomic demise while attempting to invent a parachute suit. Inspired by the Aero Club de France’s prize for a successful parachute design, Reichelt crafted a 20-pound suit with a silken hood, aiming to enable pilots to safely land in emergencies. Despite multiple failed tests using dummies, Reichelt persisted and obtained permission to conduct a live trial from the Eiffel Tower.
On February 4th, 1912, amidst a crowd of spectators and journalists, Reichelt ascended the Eiffel Tower, intending to jump himself in his parachute suit. Ignoring pleas from friends and onlookers, he leaped from the tower’s first deck at 8:22 AM. However, the suit proved ineffective, and Reichelt tragically plummeted 200 feet to the ground below, leaving a comically small crater upon impact. His daring attempt, though misguided, highlighted the risks of innovation without adequate testing, contrasting sharply with a successful parachute jump conducted just days earlier. Reichelt’s unwittingly dramatic death remains a cautionary tale in the annals of aviation history.