According to state media, Chinese paraglider Peng Yujiang is fortunate to have returned to the ground after surviving a powerful updraft that suddenly lifted him up into the atmosphere above Qilian Mountains in Gance, China on Saturday.
Peng reportedly rose by 8,598 meters or about 28,208 feet without oxygen, according to China Central Television (CCTV).
“I had just bought a used paraglider harness and wanted to test it out, so I was rocking the parachute on the ground, and after a while the wind suddenly picked up and lifted it into the air.
“I found myself surrounded by cumulus clouds and trapped inside. It was horrifying. Everything around me was white. Without a compass I wouldn’t know what direction I was heading. I thought I would have flew straight.
He was able to control the paraglider using his compass and radio communications with his teammates, despite having a near-frozen paralyzed hand, state media reports. Penn said he was shocked to learn that he had reached such a high altitude and believes he may have temporarily lost consciousness, CCTV said.
It’s not the first time a paraglider has reported being sucked into such dangerous heights. In 2007, German paraglider Ewa Wisnierska survived, attracting nearly 10,000 meters to the storm front.
Geoff Davison, a paragliding instructor at Fly Koh Larn in Thailand, describes altitude as a “zone of death” and warns that updrafts can occur in minutes.
“If you have that climbing rate for two, three, four minutes, you’ll go very, very, very high, very quickly,” he told CNN, adding, “If you stay at that height for a long time, you know there’s a good chance that you’re not going to get it back.”
A video shared by China Central TV (CCTV) on Tuesday showed a pen with ice covering her face and clothes, drifting through the clouds. However, some of the video appears to be generated by AI. All footage has been investigated for reliability by CNN. We are seeking more information from Peng Yujiang, but he has not responded to our request.
The video was originally published by Gujimin, another paraglidy pilot who is said to have released a clip that “caused negative impacts without permission,” according to China’s state-run Global Times. He was punished for six months of flight suspension and ordered to write a reflex report for each Global Times.
PENG – a certified B-level paraglider who has been a paraglider for over four years and requires at least 20 days of flight experience per CCTV – was also issued a 6-month suspension due to his failure to register for flights.
According to an interview with CCTV, he had already planned a break from the flight. “As soon as I got out of the clouds, I was very excited because I was still alive. The most frightening moment was when the canopy sniffed when he tried to get out of the spiral and failed. “I don’t know about the future, but for now I won’t fly for a while,” he said.
Update: This story has been updated with additional information.
