Swiss Prosecutors Close Criminal Investigation into Death of Scottish Wingsuit Flyer Liam Byrne

Swiss federal prosecutors have decided to end their investigation into whether any crime was committed in connection with the death of a Scottish wingsuit flyer who was killed during a jump in the Swiss Alps last year.

Liam Byrne, a 24-year-old British champion in the sport, sustained fatal injuries on the Gitschen mountain after launching from a height of roughly 7,874 feet (2,400 metres) in June of last year. The decision to discontinue proceedings was confirmed in documents from the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office that were reviewed by BBC Scotland News.

Byrne, who was from Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, had become a familiar figure in the wingsuit community and had been the subject of a 2024 BBC documentary titled "The Boy Who Can Fly." The film traced his remarkable path from a teenager who dreamed of flight to one of Britain's most accomplished exponents of the extreme sport.

Wingsuit flying is a form of skydiving in which participants wear a specially designed suit featuring webbing between the arms, legs and torso. This construction creates additional surface area that generates lift, allowing the flyer to glide through the air at high speed rather than simply falling. It is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous disciplines in aviation and extreme sport, because participants typically operate close to terrain and have limited margin for error.

According to the report outlining the decision to close the case, the first two wingsuit jumpers in Byrne's group landed safely. Byrne, however, struck the mountainside and suffered injuries that proved fatal.

The prosecutor's office concluded that the fatal crash was, with a high degree of probability, the result of a situation from which there was no escape. The report attributed this to insufficient lift combined with the low altitude above the ground, conditions that left the flyer with no viable opportunity to recover or divert.

The document stated that proceedings would be discontinued where there was insufficient evidence of any criminal suspicion, including conduct such as knowingly placing life in danger. Investigators found no indications that any third party had acted criminally in a way that contributed to the crash, nor any sign of a pre-existing technical defect in the equipment Byrne was using.

With those findings, the Swiss authorities formally ended the case. The outcome means no individual or organisation will face criminal liability in Switzerland over the death, and the file will not proceed to any prosecution.

Byrne had accumulated thousands of jumps over the course of his flying career, and his experience was not in question. He had described a wingsuit as a kind of "second skin" that allowed him to move through the air in a controlled manner, a description that captured both the technical precision and the sense of freedom the sport gave him.

His appetite for adventure had been evident from childhood. At the age of 12, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak at 19,341 feet (5,895 metres). That achievement was followed by dog-sledging through the Arctic, scuba diving and a series of high summit climbs. By 14 he had become a licensed paraglider, and he completed his first skydive at 16.

By 18, Byrne had begun flying in a wingsuit. In the BBC documentary, he recalled telling his father at around the age of 13 that he wanted to learn to fly like a bird, a childhood ambition that ultimately shaped the direction of his short life.

Following his death, Byrne's family issued a statement paying tribute to the way he had lived. They said they wanted him to be remembered not only for the manner of his passing but for how he had embraced his time in the world. They described him as fearless, explaining that this was not because he lacked fear but because he refused to allow it to constrain him.

The family added that he had pursued life in a way most people only dream about, and that he had soared. For Byrne, they said, skydiving and base jumping amounted to more than an adrenaline pursuit; they represented freedom and were the setting in which he felt most alive.

The closing of the Swiss investigation brings a formal legal dimension of the case to an end, though the circumstances remain a reminder of the risks inherent in wingsuit flying. Even highly experienced pilots can encounter situations in which altitude, lift and terrain leave no room for correction, which is precisely the scenario Swiss prosecutors concluded was most likely in this instance.

The case also highlights how Swiss authorities assess such deaths, distinguishing between accidents caused by unavoidable circumstances and incidents involving criminal negligence or equipment failure. In Byrne's case, investigators found neither, and the proceedings were therefore dropped.