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Yves Rossy, better known as the ‘Jetman,’ failed in his first attempt to make an intercontinental flight between Europe and Africa. After launching over Morocco, Rossy was heading for Spain over the Strait of Gibraltar when he disappeared from view on the live TV broadcast. Several minutes later the cameras found him swimming in the Atlantic with his parachute.

Rossy has made several successful flights with his jet-powered wing which attaches like a backpack. Last year he crossed the English Channel and he has also made numerous flights in the Alps.

At a press conference in Spain after the ditching, Rossy  thanked his rescuers according to Sky News. It is unclear exactly what led to the ditching, though Rossy said he had attempted to fly over a cloud that was bigger than he expected and ended up going too slow. He ended up flying into the cloud and said he felt he was stabilized at one point despite not having a horizon reference. As an experienced airline pilot, Rossy knows the difference between flying by visual references and flying by reference to instruments. Flying by instrument reference is normal while flying in the clouds in an aircraft. Flying his jet wing, Rossy does not have adequate reference instruments. A lack of either a reference horizon can cause pilots to lose control of their aircraft because of spatial disorientation. In the news conference he says while in the cloud he began to lose stability, but did believe he was able to regain a stable climb. A short time later he says he was once again unstable and his altimeter told him he was at only 850 meters (2789 feet) elevation.

“And unstable at this height, that’s not playing anymore, so I did throw away my wing and open the parachute.” The Spanish Coast Guard is expected to recover the wing from the Atlantic and Rossy’s team has said he will make another attempt at the transcontinental flight.