Base jumper killed in Queensland

A base jumper has died in an accident across the Tasman.

Australian police said a 49-year-old man died after his parachute failed to open when he jumped off the top of North Queensland's Wallaman Falls, west of Ingham, just before 9am yesterday.

The man was one of four base jumpers at the site, police said.

Base jumping is significantly more dangerous than skydiving from aircraft, and is currently regarded as a "extreme" sport.

'B.A.S.E.' is an acronym that stands for the four categories of fixed objects from which participants jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridge), and earth (cliff).

- AAP