One Paraglider Dead, One Survives Ascent To 32,000 Feet

Aviation Aviation News
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In a case being described as a true medical miracle a German woman paraglider, Ewa Wisnerka, practicing for the upcoming 10th World Paragliding Championships in OZ was trapped in a thunderstorm generated updraft and carried to a height of more than 32K feet without the benefit of supplementary oxygen. She survived being unconscious and without additional oxygen for approximately an hour and was ultimately treated for frostbite and released by the local hospital after her recovery.

aero-news.net/index.cfm?Cont … 8241ee04df

A male Chinese paraglider trapped in the same storm cell wasn’t as fortunate as Ewa and was found dead more than 50 miles from his launch site.

All of which occurred after the British paragliding champion, Nicky Moss, was attacked by a pair of eagles during her training session on Monday.

reuters.com/article/oddlyEno … geNumber=1

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I gotta say that this story gives me a much higher faith in the stability of paragliders. All that turbulence, and the chute didn’t twist or collapse, ecen when the pilot was out cold. I may have to try this one day.