He flew too near the sun (6)
I believe the answer is:
icarus
'he flew too near the sun' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for icarus that I've seen before include "involved in air crash" , "He died flying" , "Son of Daedalus whose wings melted fatally" , "His false wings melted" , "one with disintegrating wings" .)