Paraglider captures exact moment he was 'one second' away from death as he gets tangled in parachute
Topics: Sport, World News
Rashi Agarwal
Featured Image Credit: Kevin Philipp/YouTube
Topics: Sport, World News
A paraglider successfully captured the moment when he was just 'one second' away from death after his lines got tangled in a parachute.
Watch the clip below:
Kevin Philipp was paragliding in Organya, Spain, in August 2022 when he had a terrifying near death experience while doing 'acro' mid-air.
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It all started while performing the adventure sport 'acro', a freestyle activity that involves carrying out spectacular tricks mid-air.
The scary video shows the dangerous moment when the parachute failed to open, and he was forced to think of a Plan B before plummeting to the ground.
The paraglider was performing tricks mid-air in strong turbulence when the situation went out of control, the lines tangled and wrapped him completely.
As he was falling to the ground rapidly, the paraglider performed a quick reflex action to pull the lines off him and tug a ripcord, which released a life-saving parachute.
Kevin made a harsh landing and was back to safety - but it was nearly a fatal experience.
Fortunately, the paraglider is safe and was able to share the unexpected moment on Youtube.
He wrote a caption: "Acro paragliding trick in strong turbulence went wrong. Break line got stuck.
"Falling into the lines and wing made the rescue parachute throw quite hard. The falling speed increased a lot due to the twisting wing.
“Very last chance was to manually open the rescue package. This was not the day to die! Thanks!!!"
Kevin later explained how acro paragliding is a sport full of 'trials and errors', and said: “In acro paragliding we face a lot of tries and errors in learning the tricks.
“With 2-3 rescue parachutes and a lot of height we can safely train this kind of sport. This occasion is quite unlucky and rare. Just to keep in mind.
“Fly high, land safe.”
Many people praised Kevin's calm reaction in the face of what could have all too easily been a fatal issue.
One commented: “Insane! This is what fighting for your life looks like. Glad you won!”
Another said: “F**king hell that's terrifying. I'm glad things turned out well!”
A third said they were ‘shaking behind the screen’ as they watched on in horror, while a fourth added: “THAT WAS INTENSE.”
Others also asked why the reserves didn’t open, with one writing: “Why both reserves did not open? Bad packaging? You should look into that first.
"Good reaction shows exceptional situation awareness and experience. I think you are going to be fine.”
Kevin later clarified in the comments: “The handle was stuck in the lines so it couldn’t travel far enough to deploy.”