Paraglider speaks out after narrow escape from death following midair collision with plane
Topics: World News, Plane, Sport
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/sab_thi
Topics: World News, Plane, Sport
A woman has shared a message after surviving a harrowing incident while out paragliding over the Austrian Alps.
Footage of the incident shows the 44-year-old woman enjoying the view over the mountains in the Piesendorf area near Salzburg before she is suddenly thrown into a life-threatening situation.
As she glides, a small propellor plane appears seemingly out of nowhere, with the propellor slicing through her parachute and sending her hurtling towards the ground.
Despite being buffeted about in the sky, she was still able to take the proper emergency action as her parachute was seen in the back in the back of the video flailing in the air helplessly.
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The extraordinary footage shows her successfully managing to deploy her emergency parachute, before descending to the ground and landing next to a tree.
Her face is not visible for most of the clip, though several shouts and exclamations can be heard as she loses altitude and deploys her emergency parachute.
Police have since released a statement about the extraordinary incident, saying: “According to the pilot’s own statements, he was unable to swerve in time, which is why there was a collision with the paraglider.
“This was severely damaged by the propeller of the powered aircraft, which is why the experienced paraglider triggered the reserve parachute.
“She managed a safe emergency landing on a forest road.”
The plane was also able to land safely, with reports saying that it sustained minor damage in the collision, while the woman was picked up by a police helicopter and flown to Zell am See Airport, where the plane also landed.
Police have not publicly identified the woman involved in the collision, however a woman called Sabrina shared the footage to her Instagram page.
“The day when, as a paraglider, a Cessna 172 pulls you out of the sky,” she wrote in German, which was translated automatically.
"I actually still can't believe that I'm sitting here typing this and apart from a few nasty bruises and bruises all around nothing really happened."
At the top of the caption she wrote: "Happy Birthday to me".
She also put a follow up post about the incident on social media, which included some stills from the footage, as well as some more reflections on the terrifying incident.
In the caption, she wrote: "There are rules and accidents happen anyway. Maybe this will help everyone fly a little more attentive again.
"I understand that a paraglider, just like a glider for us, is often difficult to see - even though we are beautifully colorful"
An investigation has now been opened into the incident.