
Video footage shows paraglider's perilous accidental 8000m-high flight
created: May 29, 2025, 12:51 p.m. | updated: May 30, 2025, 6:27 a.m.
A Chinese paraglider has survived being accidentally propelled 8,500m (27,800ft) into the sky above north-west China, state media report.
Peng Yujiang was testing new equipment over the Qilian mountains on Saturday, when a rare updraft or air current known as a "cloud suck" pulled him higher into the air.
Mr Peng narrowly survived death - oxygen levels are thin at that altitude and temperatures can plummet to -40C.
Chinese authorities are investigating the incident and Mr Peng has been suspended for six months because the flight was unauthorised, state-run Global Times reported.
An earlier version of this edit contained a shot from a previous flight
1 week, 3 days ago: BBC News