Flying Frenchman fails in Channel crossing bid

A daredevil French inventor Thursday crashed into the sea on an attempt to fly across the Channel standing on a jet-powered "flyboard", wrecking for now his dream of becoming a new aviation pioneer.

Franky Zapata, 40, a former jet-skiing champion, had to be fished out of the Channel by rescuers after falling into the clogged shipping lane between France and Britain during a tricky refuelling manouevre.

But he was in good health and would soon try again, his entourage said. Zapata took off successfully from Sangatte in northern France and had planned to land in Britain around Dover after a flight of just 20 minutes.

But the refuelling was always set to be one of the trickiest parts of the operation and Zapata made contact with the refuelling platform due to the waves, forcing him into the sea.

"There was a problem with the refuelling," a spokesman for his team said.

"He could not carry out the procedure and so the crossing has been cancelled."