Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy ditched in the sea in a failed bid to make aviation history by flying from Africa to Europe using a jet-powered wing attached to his back.
The 50-year-old former fighter pilot waved to rescuers before a helicopter carrying a team of paramedics which had been following him throughout the attempt plucked him to safety, live television images showed.
He gave the thumbs up sign and walked off the helicopter unaided when it landed in Spain before being taken to hospital for a check-up as a precaution.
Rossy was attempting to complete the first intercontinental flight using just a jetpack.
He had planned to fly 38km across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier in Morocco to Atlanterra in southern Spain from a height of about 2000m while wearing a flame-retardant suit.
His journey was to last 13 minutes - reaching top speeds of 290km an hour - but at about the mid-way point Rossy parachuted into the ocean apparently because of a wing malfunction, organisers said.
"It is going to be historic. No one has ever done this before," he told reporters on the eve of his attempted crossing.
Rossy is scheduled to give a press conference later on Wednesday after he completes his check-up.
Known as "Jetman", he made headlines in September 2008 when he became the first person to cross the English Channel between France and Britain using a jet-powered wing.
He made the crossing from Calais to Dover - tracing the route of French aviation pioneer Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in a plane 99 years earlier - in just 15 minutes, after reaching speeds of up to 200km an hour.
His team said Wednesday's Africa to Europe attempt was the logical follow-on from this.
The carbon-fibre wing, two metres across and weighing 60kg is powered by four jet engines and steered by the pilot's body movements. It was designed by Rossy.
Before taking off he said the main dangers were engine failure and losing control of the wing.
"But there's always plan B. I can ditch the wing and open the parachute. If I land in the water, there are people to come and get me," he told AFP by telephone.
A camera crew was following Rossy and his bid to reach Europe from Africa was broadcast live over the Internet and television stations around the world.
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