Chinese paraglider cheats death after flying to 28,000ft

A Chinese paraglider who cheated death after a cloud carried him to the same height as the cruising altitude for aircraft, has been banned from flying for six months, authorities said on Wednesday.

Peng Yujiang found himself at 28,208ft (8,598 metres) above sea level after his equipment malfunctioned and he was lifted to a height equivalent to almost summiting Mount Everest.

The glider’s on board camera recorded the entire incident, including the moment Peng climbed to heights where temperatures are as low as -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) and oxygen drops to critically low levels.

Peng had taken off from a height of nearly 10,000ft in the Qilian Mountains, a range between the Qinghai and Gansu provinces of northern China, on Saturday, and was reportedly in the air for more than an hour.

The Gansu Provincial Aviation Sports Association released a report detailing the event on Wednesday, and banned Peng from flying as he had not registered his trip beforehand.

A pilot named Gu Zhimin was also banned from flying for six months, because he “released the video of the incident with permission”, the report said.