Terrorist tourist: the Deltasegler pilot forgets his rocket

Float once on Interlaken BE. It's a dream that the American Chris Gursky wants to achieve on his first day of vacation in mid-October.

Accompanied by a two-seater pilot, you go on a hill in good weather. The conditions are perfect. Bright blue sky, sun. In short training, it will be serious for Chris. The two men start running. What Gursky does not know yet: he is not safe!

When the glider gets up, the person in charge of the car collapses suddenly. "My body weight suddenly dropped, I had to fight for my life," Gursky said. He looked down and thought, "That's it."

With both arms, he clings to the driver, who is secure in the support. The delta sailor climbs higher and higher. He crosses meadows and trees. Gursky knows it: when he lets go, he falls into the depths.

Then he loses his hand with his right hand. The pilot m 'caught my hand. But as in an action movie, she slipped into slow motion and I tried to stand up. Gursky's right hand squeezed the pilot's leg, his left hand against the metal bar.

Together 2 minutes and 14 seconds takes the flight of horror. Gursky can hardly last longer. Finally, the pilot goes to a large meadow. The approaching landing begins. When the sailor of the delta flies over the grass, he can not anymore. The friend drops, falls to the ground.

The American tourist must be taken to the hospital. The tendon of the left bicep is torn, the right wrist is broken. He is operated. A titanium plate and seven screws are needed to repair the breakage.

But the manager is happy to live again. He uploads the video of his flight on Youtube. And writes: "The landing was difficult, but I survived."

Even though the American had almost died, he would do it again. And he shows the gallows humor: "I will have to sail Delta again, I could not enjoy my first flight."

He was not angry with the pilot. He made a mistake but tried everything to save him. "He held me to the harness while he was flying with one hand." He also managed to put the glider down quickly.

The boss of the company responsible for hang gliding can not explain the mistake. The pilot is very experienced, would make such flights for years. He apologized for the incident. Such a thing should not happen.

He has been operating the company in Interlaken for more than 15 years. How exactly he could come to the backup error, he can not say. The boss himself is currently on vacation, he will be back in two days in Switzerland. He is happy that Gursky takes the incident lightly.