Top 10 People Who Tragically Died Trying to Break World Records

#10: Bill Warner

Bill Warner was a well-respected motorcycle racer, and he liked to go fast. In 2011, he set the land speed record for a conventional motorcycle, reaching 300 mph on a 1.5-mile track. After achieving this tremendous feat, Warner attempted to reach 300 mph in a single mile and planned to retire from motorcycle racing immediately afterwards. During his 2013 attempt, he seemingly lost control of his bike after getting to 285 mph. Warner struck a landing light pedestal, which sent him and the motorcycle flying. While he was conscious following the crash, he later died in the hospital from his injuries.

#9: Nick Piantanida

Piantanida was an amateur parachute jumper who was determined to set the record for highest parachute and free fall jump. This involved achieving insane heights in a hot air balloon before jumping. His February 1966 attempt was scratched due to an oxygen line problem; he would’ve at least been recognized for reaching a record 123,500 feet in his balloon, but a technicality disqualified him. In May 1966, Piantanida planned to jump from 120,000 feet; however, his suit depressurized at 57,000 feet, and his control center was forced to activate the gondola’s emergency parachute. Piantanida suffered massive tissue damage and lapsed into a coma. He died in the hospital four months later.

#8: Donald Campbell

Donald Campbell is without a doubt one of the greatest land speed record holders of all time. During the ‘50s and ‘60s, Campbell broke eight speed records. He also set both the land and water records in one year – the only man in history to do so. In 1967, Campbell attempted to reach 300 mph on water. After reaching an astounding 328 mph, his Bluebird craft took to the air and did a complete somersault, obliterating the boat and launching Campbell’s body to an unknown location. It wasn’t until 2001, 34 years later, that Campbell’s body (minus the skull) was found.

#7: Javad Palizbanian

Palizbanian was once a famous daredevil in Iran, known especially for his dangerous motorcycle stunts, which included jumping a 50-yard-wide river. In August 2005, he decided to ramp up the danger and attempted to break the world record by jumping over as many buses as possible on a motorcycle. He planned on jumping 22 buses, which would amount to a distance of roughly 209 feet. For comparison, Evel Knievel’s famous bus jump was only 133 feet. Unfortunately, Palizbanian only made it to the 13th bus before crashing into it and dying on impact.

#6: Guy Garman

Garman, who also went by the name of Doc Deep, was a physician and scuba diver who was attempting to set the record for deepest recreational scuba dive in 2015. While military dives have reached deeper depths, the deepest recreational dive record is held by Ahmed Gabr, who reached 1,090 feet. Garman was attempting to reach 1,200. After he never showed up at a rendezvous air station, emergency personnel were deployed and they later found his body and equipment. Speculation arose surrounding the cause of his passing, but the Medical Examiner declared his death to be the result of drowning.

#5: Diana Paris

Paris was one of 222 people who jumped from 18,000 feet in an attempt to break the record for largest group to free fall from an airplane and complete two formations before deploying their parachutes. The plan was to jump, come together, separate, and come together again, all before opening the chutes. They had roughly 70 seconds to complete the task. This wasn’t enough time for Paris. Her parachute malfunctioned, and as she was too close to the ground, her reserve parachute didn’t have enough time to fully open. She was declared dead at the scene.

#4: Juan Francisco Guillermo

Guillermo was a Chilean man who wanted to cycle 155,350 miles, or about 250,000 kilometres, throughout five continents in five years, thus setting a new world record. In a terrible twist of fate, Guillermo was struck by a speeding pickup truck and was instantly killed on the last leg of his journey in 2015. To make the situation even more tragic, Guillermo was in the bike lane when he was struck AND his wife and 2-year-old son were present during the accident. His wife, fortunately, only suffered a sprain in the incident. The driver was arrested on charges of causing death by dangerous driving.

#3: Lowell Bayles

Lowell Bayles was a well-known air race pilot during the Golden Age of Air Racing. He had previously flown up 267 mph in his Gee Bee Model Z, and attempted to break the record for 3 km (or 1.86 miles) landplane speed record in 1931. He made four passes with an average speed of 281 mph before attempting the record again a few days later. In a “Final Destination”-esque sequence of events, the plane’s fuel cap came loose and flew through the windshield, knocking Bayles out and causing him to pitch the plane into the ground where it exploded into a huge ball of flame.

#2: Haris Suleman

17-year-old Haris Suleman had a noble pursuit: he was going to fly around the world with his father to raise money for charity, and he was going to break a world record in the process. He wanted to be the youngest pilot to travel around the world in a single-engine airplane in 30 days. However, in 2014 their plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff on the final leg of their trip, while they were on their way to Hawaii. Despite extensive emergency training, both men tragically passed away in the accident.

#1: Sailendra Nath Roy

Roy was attempting to beat his own record when he tragically passed away on April 28, 2013. Two years earlier he had created the bizarre record for farthest distance traveled on a zip wire using hair. He had ziplined about 270 feet using his own looped ponytail. He was attempting to break this record over the Teesta River when his ponytail became stuck in the wheeler. After trying frantically to free himself, Roy suffered a fatal heart attack while dangling over the river for around 25 minutes, all in the view of spectators and filming cameras.