Paraglider + thunderstorm = ugly situation

[SteveC]

Paraglider survives high-flying ordeal

By ROD McGUIRK, Associated Press Writer
Fri Feb 16, 10:35 PM ET

CANBERRA, Australia - A champion German paraglider said Friday she did not believe she would survive when she was lifted higher than
Mount Everest by a thunderstorm in eastern Australia.

Paragliding 2005 World Cup winner Ewa Wisnierska, 35, was lifted to 32,612 feet by a storm that apparently killed a Chinese paraglider in eastern Australia on Wednesday. The pilots were preparing for the 10th FAI World Paragliding Championships next week, event organizer Godfrey Wenness said.

He Zhongpin, 42, died during the same weather system, apparently from a lack of oxygen and extreme cold, Wenness said. His body was found 47 miles from his launch site.

Wisnierska described Friday how she attempted to skirt the thunderstorm and when that failed, repeatedly attempted to spiral against its powerful lift.

She said she could see lightning around her and decided her chances of survival were "almost zero."

She said she radioed her team leader at 13,123 feet.

"I said, 'I can't do anything,'" she told reporters at a news conference. "'It's raining and hailing and I'm still climbing — I'm lost.'"

Officials and Wisnierska's ground team used global positioning and radio equipment to track her altitude as she soared well beyond the 29,000-foot plus height of Everest, the world's tallest peak. Wenness said she went from 2,500 feet to the maximum in about 15 minutes.

She lost consciousness for more than 30 minutes while her glider flew on uncontrolled, sinking and lifting several times, he said.

She regained consciousness at about 1,640 feet and landed safely, but had ice in her lightweight flying suit and frost bite on her face.

She recalled feeling like an astronaut returning from the moon as her landing approached. "I could see the Earth coming — wow, like Apollo 13 — I can see the Earth," she said.

Wenness praised her ability to regain her senses and strength to land.

"It's like winning Lotto 10 times in a row — the odds of her surviving were that long," Wenness said.

A paraglider is a type of hang-glider but the pilot's harness is attached to a modified parachute that can be steered rather than to a hang-glider's wing-like canopy.

[I_Money]

Couldn't she just cut it, and deploy a the emergency chute?

[Toonces]

Originally Posted by I_Money

Couldn't she just cut it, and deploy a the emergency chute?

I was thinking the same thing. Surely they have a reserve chute. At least I think they do.

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by Toonces

I was thinking the same thing. Surely they have a reserve chute. At least I think they do.

Well I can't say for sure, but if I'm not mistaken in skydiving the purpose of the reserve chute is a backup in case the first one does not open. In paragliding they start with the chute already open so....

[JEP]

.....Wisnierska described Friday how she attempted to skirt the thunderstorm and when that failed, repeatedly attempted to spiral against its powerful lift.....

I won't question her skills in para-gliding, but I have to question the decision making process....Why on earth would you even launch in this type of wx?

I am guessing she didn't stay 20 miles from the storm.....

[jtrain609]

You'd be supprised how fast a thunderstorm can pop up on you. I know up in the midwest you see them coming for days, but I saw storms develop into full on airplane eating monsters in under 20 minutes and be gone an hour later.

[I_Money]

Originally Posted by flyguy

Well I can't say for sure, but if I'm not mistaken in skydiving the purpose of the reserve chute is a backup in case the first one does not open. In paragliding they start with the chute already open so....

They do have a reserve chute incase their collapses and gets tangled - it is positioned on the paragliders chest.

[JEP]

Originally Posted by jtrain609

You'd be supprised how fast a thunderstorm can pop up on you. I know up in the midwest you see them coming for days, but I saw storms develop into full on airplane eating monsters in under 20 minutes and be gone an hour later.

yea, seen plenty of the storms. but the line that caught me was....."tried to skirt the thunderstorm...." That tells me she saw it and tried to move around it. That doesn't make sense to me.....

Did it mention anything about oxygen....How does one get up that high and come out surviving. Did it mention how long the whole event was? How long could someone last?

Came out o.k. in the end... That's Good......

[X-Forces]

Originally Posted by JEP

I won't question her skills in para-gliding, but I have to question the decision making process....Why on earth would you even launch in this type of wx?

I am guessing she didn't stay 20 miles from the storm.....

I was wondering as well.

I mean, didn't this storm already kill someone else??

[Raskolnikov]

There are several types of reserve parachutes for paragliders. Most of them are not designed to be opened at terminal velocity, so opening one up in free-fall could rip it apart. I have no idea what she was using for a reserve but that’s usually the case.

But it was probably a big mistake to launch in those conditions. A paraglider pilot should avoid all clouds that are taller than they are wide. Unless you want to get sucked up into it. This was the World Cup champion too. You’d think she would know better. But then, I wasn’t there and don’t have her experience. So I’m not judging. It’s good she made it out okay and lived to tell about it.

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by I_Money

They do have a reserve chute incase their collapses and gets tangled - it is positioned on the paragliders chest.

Ok, well in that case, I'm not sure deploying the reserve would have helped much anyway. I mean she would have dropped to a lower altitude, but would still be in the storm. Then after deploying the reseve would just get lifted up again.

[flyguy]

It seems I read somewhere about a fighter pilot who bailed out in a thunderstorm and got a similar ride. I think I read it during my private training when studying weather hazards. I'l see if I can dig it up.

[towhook]

There are a few other stories about paragliders getting sucked into thunderstorms. Scary stuff. It can be hard to judge the height of the clouds if you have been flying all day as they grow, and there are other clouds around blocking your view of the tops.

[Mr.Maximus]

Wow, lucky Gal. What are the odds of beating the below freezing temperature, lack of oxygen, have a flimsy paraglider not collapse in a T-storm, and wake up in time to land the thing. Don't know about you folks, but if I ever go up in something like that - I'm strapping some sort of serious back-up system to my arse.