Salzburg: A para-glider had a miraculous escape after a plane ripped through her canopy, sending her into a free fall high above the Austrian Alps.
She finally managed to deploy her emergency parachute and land safely, the New York Post reported. The incident happened near Schmittenhohe mountain, a popular spot for paragliding in northern Austria.
Sabrina, a 44-year-old experienced paraglider, was flying with a camera mounted when a sightseeing plane suddenly passed directly through her canopy, just feet above her head,
the Salzburg state police reported.
A scary video of the incident has now gone online. It shows the wing splitting in half on impact. Sabrina immediately began spiralling and screaming as she lost control. With the main canopy shredded, she reached for her reserve parachute and managed to deploy it while falling.
She was picked up in a helicopter by the Austrian police and transported to a local airport for medical checks. “The propeller of the motor plane severely damaged the paraglider, prompting the experienced paraglider to deploy her reserve parachute,” police said as quoted by NBC News.
Both Sabrina and the pilot escaped serious injury, the police said. After landing at Zell am See Airport, the 28-year-old pilot also told the authorities that he was unable to avoid the collision.
The para-glider posted that she only suffered bruises and contusions and walked away with no serious injuries.
“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,” Sabrina posted in German.
