A Wikipedia List: Inventors Killed by their own inventions
A few samples from the Aviation section:
- Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari (died ca. 1003–1010), a Muslim Kazakh Turkic scholar from Farab, attempted to fly using two wooden wings and a rope. He leapt from the roof of a mosque in Nijabur and flew for some time before eventually falling to his death.
- Otto Lilienthal (1848 – 1896), died the day after crashing one of his hang gliders.
- Percy Pilcher, English aviation pioneer died flying a waterlogged glider when potential investors had been invited to watch.
- Franz Reichelt (1800s – 1912), a tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his invention, the coat parachute. It was his first ever attempt with the parachute and he had told the authorities in advance he would test it first with a dummy.
