TRIBUTES have been paid to a jet suit pilot after his death in a base jumping accident last month.

Dr Angelo Niko Grubisic appeared at last year's Bournemouth Air Festival as part of Gravity Industries’ team, who took off from Bournemouth Pier in jet packs and flew across the seafront.

Described as a “phenomenally talented man”, Dr Grubisic was a lecturer in astronautics at the University of Southampton. He was killed in a planned wing suit base jump in Saudi Arabia on August 20.

University staff gathered on Friday to remember him.

Staff said they were “extremely shocked and saddened” by his death, adding that he was “incredibly popular” with his students and colleagues.

“In his time with us, Angelo made many pioneering contributions to the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences’ research on astronautics,” they said. His family released a statement saying that he “lost his life doing what he loved the most”.