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

Swiss authorities have decided to end a criminal investigation into the death of a Scottish wingsuit pilot who died during a jump in the Alps last year, according to documents obtained by BBC Scotland News.

Liam Byrne, a 24-year-old British champion in the sport, suffered fatal injuries on the Gitschen mountain in June 2025 after launching from a height of approximately 2,400 metres, or 7,874 feet. The inquiry was opened following the accident, but paperwork from the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office indicates that officials concluded proceedings should be discontinued.

The report from the prosecutor's office described how the first two wingsuit flyers in the group completed their jumps and landed safely. Byrne, however, struck the mountainside and sustained injuries that proved fatal.

In its assessment, the prosecutor's office stated that proceedings would be dropped where there was insufficient evidence of criminal suspicion, such as knowingly putting a life in danger. The report concluded that the crash was, with a high degree of probability, the result of a situation from which there was no escape, caused by insufficient lift combined with the low altitude above the ground.

Officials also noted that there were no indications of criminal acts by third parties that might have contributed to the crash, nor was there any evidence of a pre-existing technical defect in the equipment Byrne had been using. On that basis, the investigation was closed.

Byrne, who came from Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, was widely regarded as a highly experienced wingsuit flyer, a form of skydiving in which participants wear a special suit with webbing between the arms and legs to generate lift during flight. Over the course of his career he completed thousands of jumps.

His profile had grown beyond the sport's own community after he appeared in a BBC documentary broadcast in 2024 titled The Boy Who Can Fly. In that programme he traced the origins of his ambition back to childhood, recalling how he told his father at around the age of 13 that he wanted to learn to fly like a bird.

That ambition was matched by an unusually early appetite for extreme adventure. At just 12 years old, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, which stands at 19,341 feet, or 5,895 metres. The achievement marked the beginning of a pattern of exploration that would come to define his teenage years.

His experiences expanded into dog-sledging through the Arctic, scuba diving and a series of high mountain summits. By the age of 14 he had become a licensed paraglider, and two years later he carried out his first skydive.

By 18, Byrne was flying in a wingsuit, equipment he described as a second skin that allowed him to move through the air in a controlled manner. The description captured the blend of technical precision and physical freedom that drew him to the discipline.

A family statement issued at the time of his death paid tribute to the way he approached his life. Relatives said they wanted Liam to be remembered not only for the manner in which he left the world but for how he lived in it. They described him as fearless, explaining that this was not necessarily because he lacked fear but because he refused to allow fear to hold him back.

The statement added that he pursued life in a way that most people only dream of, and that he soared. It noted that skydiving and base jumping amounted to more than a thrill for him, representing freedom and the environment in which he felt most alive.

The decision to close the Swiss investigation brings an end to the formal legal process surrounding the accident, though it does not resolve questions that inevitably surround high-risk aerial sports. Wingsuit flying remains one of the most demanding disciplines in aviation sport, requiring participants to manage altitude, glide angle and terrain with very little margin for error. Prosecutors appeared to weigh those inherent risks carefully in reaching their conclusion.

Under Swiss law, investigators can examine whether conduct crossed the threshold into criminality, for example by recklessly endangering life. The prosecutor's report made clear that no such threshold was met in this case, and that the fatality was instead attributed to the physical circumstances of the jump itself.

For the wider wingsuit community, the outcome is likely to be read as confirmation that the accident was not the product of negligence by others or of faulty gear. That distinction carries significance both for the family and for fellow flyers, who often face scrutiny after fatal incidents.

Byrne's death had drawn attention from beyond the sport because of his age, his record and his television appearance, which introduced a mass audience to the motivations that drive wingsuit pilots. His account of wanting to fly like a bird, and his steady progression from mountaineering as a child to elite-level flight, illustrated a trajectory that was both remarkable and, in the eyes of those who knew him, entirely deliberate.

The Gitschen mountain, where the accident occurred, is located in the Swiss Alps, a region that attracts highly experienced practitioners of wingsuit flight from around the world. The terrain demands precise judgement, and the combination of altitude and proximity to slopes leaves limited room for recovery when lift falls short.

Swiss federal prosecutors handle cases that fall under federal jurisdiction, and their decision to discontinue a matter is typically based on an assessment of whether evidence could support a conviction. In this instance, the office found no basis to pursue a criminal case further.

The family's tribute remains the most personal record of how Byrne was viewed by those closest to him. Their words focused less on the circumstances of the crash than on the intensity with which he engaged with the world, describing a life shaped by a refusal to be constrained by fear.

The documentary in which he featured, part of the BBC's Our Lives strand, carried the title The Boy Who Can Fly, a phrase that captured the enduring childhood wish behind his adult career. It is a wish that took him from the slopes of Kilimanjaro to the skies above the Alps.