A Chinese paraglider who was accidentally propelled more than 8,000 metres high by an updraft has been banned from the activity for six months after a video of his ordeal went viral.
Peng Yujiang began from an elevation of about 3,000m in the Qilian mountain range in northern China, where he intended to test a new second-hand equipment purchase without making a proper flight, according to an investigative report by the Gansu Provincial Aviation Sports Association.
However about 20 minutes into his practice he was caught in a strong updraft, which sent him soaring more than 5,000m high, in line with flight paths and nearly the height of Mount Everest.
Video from Peng’s mounted camera showed him above the clouds and covered in icicles as the temperature dropped to a reported -35C, as he tried to control his equipment.
In a video filmed shortly after landing, Peng recounted the experience.
“My hands were frozen outside. I kept trying to talk on the radio,” he said.
Authorities praised Peng’s survival, conceding it was an accident. A “normal person cannot be exposed at 8,000m without oxygen [so] this is not something that can be done voluntarily” said a sports bureau official, according to Sixth Tone.
But Peng, who has about five years’ experience paragliding, never intended to leave ground level and so had not registered any flight plans, meaning his ordeal was “not subject to relevant approvals”, the report said. In response he was banned from flying for six months.
The bureau report, based on an interview with Peng, said he was in the air for more than an hour, and had stayed in radio contact with his friend, Gu Zhimin, who was still on the ground.
The report said he had attempted to descend but his efforts were “ineffective”, and as he flew higher he became confused and briefly lost consciousness.
Peng was eventually able to land about 30km from the launch site, where he was met by Gu and another friend.
Gu later posted a video of Peng’s flight and comments on the ground to Douyin, China’s domestic version of TikTok, where it soon went viral.
The video sparked shock and admiration from viewers, some suggesting he had broken records, but it also drew the ire of authorities.
“Gu Zhimin posted a flight video without permission, which had a bad impact,” the report said. “He was grounded for six months and asked to write a report to deeply reflect on the negative impact of his behaviour.”
The bureau said any record broken by Peng’s flight would not be officially counted because his flight was not registered.
His flight nears the world record of 9,946m set by German paraglider Ewa Wiśnierska in 2007, when she was caught in a similar updraft while paragliding in Australia. Wiśnierska was unconscious for about 40 minutes, only learning how high she had flown after safely landing and checking her flight data.
Additional research by Lillian Yang
