Paraglider survives being accidentally pulled 28,000 feet into air without oxygen
Peng Yujiang, an experienced paraglider, said he had been conducting a routine test of equipment just under 10,000 feet above the sea in northwest China's Gansu Province.
"After a while, the wind suddenly picked up and lifted me into the air. I tried to land as soon as possible, but I failed," Peng told CCTV
The 55-year-old man had found himself trapped inside a cumulonimbus cloud system, in a phenomenon described as "cloud suck", where strong updraft currents carry paragliders to dramatically high altitudes.
Peng Yujiang was covered in ice during the incident which saw him lifted more than 28,000 feet into the air without oxygen
CCTV
"It was terrifying -- everything around me was white. I thought I was flying straight, but in reality, I was spinning," Peng told CCTV.
He climbed to an altitude of 28,208 feet, which is nearly as high as Mount Everest, the highest mountain above sea level in the world.
Footage from the flight's 360-degree camera shows the paraglider flying through thick clouds as ice forms around his exposed face and equipment. Although Peng appears calm in the video, he admitted in an interview with CCTV that the episode was deeply frightening.
"It's still frightening to think about. I'm not sure about the future, but for now I definitely won't fly for a while," he said.
He was handed a six-month flight suspension, as the flight site and airspace had not been approved in advance.
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