THERMALS create lift, banking and turning in a thermal is the surest way to go straight up, in fact it is HOW you get up to cloudbase, unless you REALLY bank it and sideslip the glider, which can put you in a spin that you dont want to be in. The Associated Press reports Switzerland's civil aviation authority plans to question the hang-glider pilot after the incident.Īs of Tuesday, the video had more than 1.4 million views on YouTube. Forward motion doesnt create lift in a hang glider, at least not more than the sink rate. The pilot had somehow forgotten that critical part of the process. Without any jerky movement – which would have endend fatally – he steered the glider as smooth and fast as possible towards the landing.īecause it is a serious incident, we will continue the investigation." Only one problem Chris was not attached in any way to the hang glider. Luckily, the pilots reaction after the takeoff was very good. It’s really tragic, that in this case it obviously wasn’t done properly. The preflight check is an elementary and important routine of every flight, and is part of every training. On the said video a mistake is clearly visible. Every year there is tousands of commercial tandem flights in Interlaken, without the slightest incident. "In principle hanggliding isn’t a dangerous sport. The Swiss Hang Gliding Association released the following statement after the video went viral: When asked if he would hang-glide again, he said he would. It was a sunny, crisp winter’s day in Interlaken, Switzerland, and Florida couple Chris and Gail Gursky, married for 26 years and parents to a grown-up son, had the perfect plan to get their hearts pumping hang-gliding over the gorgeous terrain. In an interview with ABC News, when asked about the pilot, Gursky said "He made a bad mistake, could’ve been fatal, but watching the video, he did everything he could to get me down safely." Hang-gliding horror: 'I wasn't attached' How I Survived. Gursky walked away with a broken right wrist and a torn bicep tendon and was treated at a local hospital. Remarkably, he managed to hold on as the glider approached a field and he let go moments before the pilot touched down. Gursky gripped tightly to the crossbar with his left hand and held onto the pilot's left leg with his right hand. Novem/ 9:37 AM / CBS News A nerve-wracking piece of video shows a tourist clinging for life onto a hang glider in Switzerland. The pilot was steering with one hand, trying to get them down safely on nearby land but the glider continued to fly higher over a wooded area. Gursky grabbed for anything he could hang onto as the glider started to take off. He had no idea it would be the longest four minutes of his life when he realized he wasn't attached to the hang-glider as he and the pilot took off. Chris Gursky, of North Port, was on vacation in Switzerland when he decided he wanted to go hang-gliding.
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