عباس بن فرناس never broke his neck !!!

It's true, Abbas 'bn Fernas never broke his neck, in fact, his flight attempt is considered succesful. Abbas 'bn Fernas actually _settled in the air and flew untill he fell a long distance away_ as described by 'bn Hayyan. 'bn Fernas was a scientist and he did _not_ do a stupid thing. He did a successful flying attempt based on scientific calculations and observation of birds, which proved correct. It is said that 'bn Fernas failed to land correctly, which should be done by flaring his wings as commonly practiced in hang gliders, and hurt his back (some sources said that he only broke a rib). Abbas 'bn Fernas' flight was the first flight attempted by a human in the documented history.