James Bond stuntman and SAS hero Steve Truglia killed in abseil race after plunging from a helicopter in China

A JAMES Bond stuntman and SAS hero has been killed in an abseil race from a helicopter.

Steve Truglia, 54, fell 300ft in China but authorities there are refusing to release further details.

Pals said Steve, who has been in a string of blockbusters including Tomorrow Never Dies, and another daredevil were meant to be abseiling from the chopper at the same time.

But he had expressed fears it would be too small to take their weight hours before he died. Ropes were also left out overnight in heavy rain making them potentially unsafe for the event, held up by bad weather in Chongqing, south west China.

Steve, who served in the SAS and SBS for 20 years, posted “Let’s do this” on his Facebook page as he boarded the chopper for the fateful stunt on Thursday.

Ex-military colleague and friend Phil Tunnicliffe said: “We have not been able to find out much about what happened. The Chinese company he was working for are trying to keep things under wraps.

“He had meant to be attempting the stunt on Tuesday above the Wulong National park but it had been put off until Thursday because of heavy mist and fog.

“All we have been told is that there was a fall, but that does not make sense to us. Steve was a professional stunt man and had done these types of abseils many times.’’

His girlfriend was informed of his death in a ­garbled text from a Chinese woman.

Phil added: "Since then we haven’t really had any proper information about what exactly happened.

“He did not like the size of the helicopter. He was meant to be racing a Chinese stuntman who was supposed to be dropping from the opposite side of the helicopter at the same time.

“He posted a picture of the helicopter they were planning to use on Facebook and was worried it might not be big enough to take the weight of two people dropping.

“He was worried about the kit they were using. He said that some of the ropes had been damp after being left outside.

“He wanted to use his own kit and I don’t think he would have attempted the abseil if he was unhappy with anything to do with equipment.

"He would have argued that he wanted to use his own stuff.”

In 2004 he was awarded a Guinness World Record for the fastest abseil; over 100 metres in 8.9 seconds, performed for the Guinness World Record 50th Anniversary TV show from the 400 ft London landmark Centre Point.

He was also a member of the Barking and Dagenham Canoe Club.

The Foreign Office said:’’We have offered assistance to the family of a British national who has sadly died in Chongqing, China. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.”