German Base Jumper Dominik Loyen Suffers Fatal Parachute Failure In Portugal

A tragic end came to a German base jumper who died when his parachute failed to open after he BASE jumped from a 330-foot cliff in Portugal. The 50-year-old Dominik Loyen was a popular figure in Germany's extreme sports scene and sadly passed away after the incident at the coastal cliffs of the city of Nazare, according to local police. Loyen's final jump was captured on video and shows the brief window in which Loyen had to open his parachute.

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When the parachute failed to deploy Loyen struck the rocks below while another jumper who leaped off the cliff at the same time managed to successfully deploy his own parachute. Loyen was involved in extreme sports including BASE jumping with wingsuits and his Instagram is filled with his harrowing stunts.

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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/t2KEjmiJA1/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading&utm_campaign=embed_loading_state_camera" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Dominik Loyen (@dominikloyen)</a> on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2014-10-07T09:26:45+00:00">Oct 7, 2014 at 2:26am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

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It is still unknown exactly why Loyen's parachute did not properly deploy while the other participant's parachute opened allowing him to land safely. Loyen continued his plunge striking several rocks on the way down to the beach below. Oddly enough, Loyen's parachute seems to open after his final impact on the rocks.

Bild newspaper reported that emergency services did their best to resuscitate the extreme sports athlete but were unable to. An investigation into his death is now underway. Loyen was interviewed by Deutsche Welle in 2014 about his nervewracking jumps in Switzerland where he was living at the time. The sport is legal in Switzerland and he shared a story about surviving a delayed parachute deployment which he managed to land unharmed.

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When Welle asked Loyen if he considered retiring from base jumping, the then 46-year-old replied, "Yes, I had some thoughts about taking a break, or giving it up completely, when a good friend of mine had a fatal accident."

"But then you deal with it, and somehow you have to do what you find fun. You worry about it and then decide to carry on anyway and you swear not to make the same mistakes." Friends and fans alike have been leaving tributes to Loyen on his Facebook account. Users praised his expertise and "positive vibes".

One user wrote, "Glad to know the universe has a few more positive ions." BASE jumping is an extreme sport which is an acronym which stands for jumping off of four categories of fixed objects: Buildings, Antenna, Span, and Earth.

<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">DominikLoyen | Instagram</span>

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