A video shows the Swiss hang glider pilot taking off while an uninvited tourist is forced to hang on to save his life

GENEVA – The Swiss Civil Aviation Authority has announced that it will interrogate a hang-glider pilot after visiting a tourist flying over a picturesque landscape of Switzerland, for tens of meters, because his harness was not properly fixed.

A captivating video of the incident drew over 1.4 million views on YouTube Tuesday, one day after its release.

The video montage titled "Swiss Mishap" begins with a written introduction, then zooms in on the two men, with a note stating that the pbadenger's harness is not attached. After a countdown and a take-off run, the pbadenger swings to the left of the pilot, clinging to the bar or his clothes in different ways.

The spokesman of the Federal Office of Civil Aviation, Antonello Laveglia, said the organization planned to "reconstruct the events" of the flight and hear the story of the pilot, as well as that of other witnesses.

"It is only with such information that it will be possible to evaluate any subsequent actions," he wrote in an e-mail.

Sometimes the paraglider swings, but the pilot finally regains control, sometimes lifting the pbadenger over the treeline with the mountains and a lake in the background, shows the video.

Towards the end of the four-minute clip, the pbadenger ejects over a grbad field and the pilot lands. The caption states that the pbadenger suffered a broken wrist that required surgery and that he shows a picture of a man in a hospital bed and an x-ray.

Associated Press has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Christian Boppart, director of the Swiss Hang gliding Association, said that he knew who the pilot was, but that he wanted to respect his privacy because the authorities would seize the matter.

"The pilot knew that he had made a terrible mistake, but he then made a good backup," Boppart said by phone. "The first lesson is that you check before you start that everything is fine and everyone is attached."

Switzerland attracts millions of tourists each for its bucolic alpine panoramas, outdoor activities and other attractions.

Boppart said that serious injuries related to hand theft in Switzerland were rare.