THE first ever hoverboard journey over the English Channel shows daring inventions and pushing boundaries can lead to extraordinary outcomes.

French inventor Franky Zapata successfully made the 22-mile journey on his Flyboard Air — but other trailblazing inventors throughout history haven't been so lucky.

Like Valerian Abakovsky, who came up with an experimental high-speed railcar powered by an aircraft engine and propeller in the 1920s.

His "Aerowagon", which could travel of speeds of nearly 90mph, derailed killing seven of the 22 people on board — including Abakovsky himself.

And shipbuilder Thomas Andrews Jr called his masterpiece ship "as nearly perfect as human brains can make her" during its highly anticipated maiden voyage.

But when the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14 1912, Andrews was among the 1,500 people who died in one of the worst marine peacetime disasters in history.

Here, we examine the tragic inventors who were killed by their own creations.

'The Flying Tailor' who jumped off the Eiffel Tower

Franz Reichelt

Invention: Parachute-suit

Franz Reichelt in the moments before his fatal fallFranz Reichelt was a parachuting pioneer who fell to his death in front of a large crowd after jumping off the Eiffel Tower in 1912.

The Austrian-born French tailor was trying to demonstrate his "parachute-suit" when he fell 57 metres into the frozen earth below.

He'd managed to get permission for the stunt by keeping it a secret that he was going to test the suit by wearing it — Parisian authorities believed he was going to use a dummy.

Friends desperately tried to persuade him not to go through with the test when they realised what he was going to do after seeing the suits previous failures.

But as Reichelt told journalists at the time: "I want to try the experiment myself and without trickery, as I intend to prove the worth of my invention."

At 8:22am on February 4, he stood on a stool on top of a restaurant table by the guardrail of the first deck of the iconic tower.

He then stepped forward on to the rail, hesitated for nearly a minute, and jumped over.

His suit only seemed to half-open as he fell for just a few seconds before slamming into the ground.

Reichelt's right arm and leg were crushed and his skull and spine were smashed, and he was seen bleeding from his mouth, ears and nose before he died.

The fatal jump became notorious when pictures of it were featured in newspapers the next day.

There's even a video recording of the tragic leap.

Stuntman dropped from stadium ceiling in a barrel

Karel Soucek

Invention: Shock-proof barrel

Karel Soucek was an expert Canadian stuntman famous for going over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1984.

His nine foot bright red barrel made of steel and insulated with liquid foam was rigorously tested before his attempt.

And incredibly, Soucek survived the stunt, suffering only minor injuries.

Thrilled with his accomplishment, he wanted to build a museum at Niagara Falls detailing his success and decided to do another stunt to raise cash for the building.

Soucek's plan was to be in a barrel which would be dropped from the roof of the Houston Astrodome, a sports stadium, into a tank of water below.

On January 19, 1985 Soucek was sealed in the barrel and suspended 180ft above the tank.

It was then released prematurely and started spinning during the drop, causing it to hit the rim of the tank instead of landing in the centre.

He was alive when he was pulled from the barrel, but later died from his injuries.

Evel Knievel had tried to convince Soucek not to do the stunt, saying it was "the most dangerous I've ever seen".

'Flying car' wing folds up mid-flight

Henry Smolinski and Harold Blake

Invention: AVE Mizar flying car

Engineers Henry Smolinski and Harold Blake wanted to make a flying car that would work as well in the sky as it would on the road.

So they created the AVE Mizar, which was essentially a cross between a Ford Pinto and a Cessna Skymaster.

Its wings could easily be unbolted from the car part of the vehicle so it could be driven away.

But the wing mounting attachments caused problems with prototype testing.

On August 26 1973, test pilot Charles Janisse was flying the Mizar when its right wing attachment failed shortly after takeoff.

He was able to bring the aircraft down safely in a bean field — and even drove the car back to the airport.

But on September 11 that year, the same problem happened again mid-flight when Smolinski was flying the Mizar with Blake in the passenger seat.

The right wing folded in and the Mizar fell to the ground, exploding in a hellish ball of flames.

Both Smolinski and Blake were killed instantly.

Prototype air taxi crash fireball

Michael Dacre

Invention: AVCEN Jetpod

Michael Dacre's plan for the Jetpod was to act as a "flying taxi" which could take off and land in short distances.

It was designed to be quieter than existing aircraft so Jetpod runways could be constructed near the centre of major cities.

But on August 16 2009, 53-year-old Dacre took out a just-finished new prototype for a test flight in Malaysia.

After three failed attempts to take off, the Jetpod flew to a height of about 200 metres on the fourth go.

It then quickly plummeted to the ground, killing Dacre, who was the only person on board.

Sculptor killed by his sculpture

Luis Jimenez

Invention: 'Blue Mustang' sculpture

But tragic fates aren't limited to those who pushed boundaries in the world of tech.

American sculptor Luis Jimenez was an artist whose work killed him in a freak accident.

In 1993, the city of Denver commissioned Jimenez to make a large outdoor sculpture for its new airport.

So he chose to make a 32-foot 9,000 pound rearing horse made from multicoloured fibreglass to symbolise the American Wild West.

The work, which he titled Blue Mustang, stood in his workshop after repeated delays to its installation because of legal issues.

In 2006, a large section of the sculpture fell on him in his studio in Hondo, New Mexico.

The section crushed the 65-year-old's leg and severed his artery, ultimately killing him.

His sons finished the sculpture, which was ultimately installed in 2008.

Locals sometimes refer to the deadly statue as "Blucifer".

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