BASE jumping incident kills 2, including man who performed with Madonna

Two men, extreme‑sports athlete Andy Lewis and 68‑year‑old Danny Joe Kregle, were killed in a tandem BASE‑jump accident in Utah’s Mineral Bottom canyon on June 14, 2026. Lewis, known for slacklining achievements and a Super Bowl XLVI halftime appearance with Madonna, owned a local BASE‑jump company. Emergency responders arrived, but both victims died of their injuries.

Two people, including a world-record-holding slackliner known for performing with Madonna, died in a BASE jumping accident in Utah on June 14, according to authorities.

The incident occurred in a remote area of the Mineral Bottom canyon outside of Moab, the Grand County Sheriff's Office said in a press release.

First responders and two intermountain helicopters responded to the scene, where both individuals died of their injuries.

The sheriff's office identified one of the victims as Andy Lewis, a slackliner and extreme sports athlete who performed in the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show alongside Madonna.

Officials described the second victim as an approximately 50-year-old male. Local reports from The Times-Independent and Fox 13 identified him as Danny Joe Kregle, 68.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Grand County Sheriff's Office for more information.

Andy Lewis, extreme sports athlete, dies in BASE jumping accident

Lewis, who was known as "Sketchy Andy," was a slackliner and extreme athlete. He gained attention after performing alongside Madonna in the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show on Feb. 5, 2012.

During the show, he walked on a wire for about 30 seconds before backflipping onto the stage. He told ABC News at the time that he had been slacklining for more than seven years.

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Before the halftime appearance, Lewis broke the Guinness World Record for most side surfs on a slackline in one minute at the Diaoshuilou Waterfall in Mudanjiang City, China, on Aug. 28, 2011.

Lewis was the owner of BASE Jump Moab, a BASE jumping company in Utah, and Moab Swingers, a rope swing in Utah.

Moab Swingers co-owner Jimmy Peterson confirmed the news in a social media post, saying he was "heartbroken" over Lewis' death.

Aerial Arts Moab, which described Lewis as a co-owner, said in a social media post that the accident occurred during a tandem BASE jump, which is when an instructor and student jump off a fixed object together with a single parachute.

Lewis was 39.

BASE jumping accident victim Danny Joe Kregle was 'devoted father'

Kregle's family confirmed to local outlets The Times-Independent and Fox 13 that he died in the accident.

In a statement to the outlets, Kregle's family said they hope he "can be remembered for the life he lived and the people who loved him."

“Danny had a wonderful sense of humor and was always looking for ways to make people laugh. One of his greatest joys was performing magic tricks alongside his granddaughter. He was the light of her world, and she was the light of his," the statement said.

They also said Kregle was a "devoted father" to two daughters and an "accomplished businessman" in Arizona.

What is BASE jumping?

BASE jumping is a recreational sport that involves jumping from fixed objects using a parachute to descend to the ground, according to the National Park Service.

BASE is an acronym that stands for the four categories of objects from which participants leap: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs), according to BASE Access.