Hang glider has perilous trip after pilot fails to strap him in

Nov. 27 (UPI) — A man’s first hang gliding trip in Switzerland nearly turned deadly as he realized he hadn’t been strapped in to the glider after taking off.

Chris Gursky shared video of the perilous trip which he dubbed the “Swiss mishap” to YouTube on Monday, chronicling his departure and the heart-wrenching landing that left him with a fractured wrist and torn bicep.

“My first time Hang Gliding turned into a near death experience as my safety harness was never hooked to the Glider. For 2 Min. 14 seconds I had to hang on for my life! The landing was a rough one, but I lived to tell the story,” Gursky wrote.

The video, taken from a camera attached to the glider, shows Gursky and the pilot sprinting forward to propel the glider airborne above a Swiss hillside, when he quickly realizes his harness hadn’t been attached.

Gursky proceeds to tighten his grip on the front bar of the glider and the pilot’s shoulder, as the pilot attempted to angle for a quick landing.

The two continue to ascend as Gursky’s right arm falls free, leaving him grasping at the pilot’s pant leg for the remainder of the flight, while the pilot holds him by the strap.

After gliding over a stretch of trees, Gursky and the pilot approach the open landing area where Gursky drops about a foot to the ground, seconds before the pilot completes a proper landing.

“Upon impact my right wrist suffered a fragmented distal radius fracture, which required surgery,” Gusrsky wrote. “A titanium plate and seven screws were installed and I was released the following afternoon.”

Gursky said he also tore a tendon in his left bicep from holding onto the metal bar for as long as he did.

“It beats the alternative,” he wrote.

The incident occurred on the first day of his trip to Switzerland and Gursky said he would try hang gliding again in the future, while commending the pilot for his efforts to save his life after the dangerous oversight.

“While the pilot made a critical error in our pre-flight setup by not attaching me to the glider, he did all he could to get me down to the ground as quickly as possible, while grabbing on to my harness and flying with one hand,” he wrote.