Paraglider Survives Accidental Flight 8,000 Meters Above Clouds

A Chinese paraglider who was accidentally lifted to more than 8,000 metres by a thermal has been banned from paragliding for six months after a video of his ordeal went viral.

According to an investigation report by China's Gansu Provincial Aviation Sports Association, Peng Yujiang took off from an altitude of about 3,000m in the Qilian Mountains in northern China, where he intended to test new second-hand equipment purchased without proper flight training, The Guardian reports.

However, about 20 minutes into the training, Peng was caught in a strong updraft that lifted him to an altitude of over 5,000 meters, a flight path that is almost the same as the height of Mount Everest.

Video from a camera mounted on the plane showed Peng hovering above the clouds, covered in icicles, as temperatures dropped to minus 35 degrees Celsius as he tried to operate his equipment.

In a video taken shortly after landing, Peng described his experience.

"My hands were frozen outside. I kept trying to radio," he said.

Authorities praised Peng for surviving, admitting it was an accident. “A normal person cannot be at 8,000 meters without oxygen, so it’s not something you can do voluntarily,” a sports bureau official said, according to Sixth Tone.

But Peng, who has about five years of paragliding experience, never intended to leave ground level and so did not file any flight plans, meaning his test “was not subject to appropriate approval,” the report said. In response, he was banned from flying for six months, The Guardian notes.

The bureau's report, based on interviews with Peng, said he was in the air for more than an hour and was in radio contact with his friend Gu Zhimin, who was still on the ground.

The report said he tried to descend but his efforts were "ineffective" and as he rose higher he became confused and briefly lost consciousness.

Peng eventually managed to land about 30 km from the launch site, where he was met by Gu and another friend.

Gu later posted footage of Peng's flight and his comments on the ground on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, where it soon went viral.

The video has caused shock and admiration among viewers, with some suggesting it has broken all records, but has also drawn the ire of the authorities, The Guardian notes.

“Gu Zhimin released a video of the flight without permission, which had negative consequences,” the report said. “He was suspended from flying for six months and asked to write a report to deeply reflect on the negative consequences of his behavior.”

The bureau said any record broken by Peng's flight would not be officially counted because his flight was not logged.

His flight comes close to the world record of 9,946 metres set by German paraglider Ewa Wisnierska in 2007, when she was caught in a similar updraft while paragliding in Australia. Wisnierska was unconscious for about 40 minutes and only found out how high she had flown after she landed safely and checked her flight data.