Latest news with #Peng
NDTV
3 hours ago
- Climate
- NDTV
What Is 'Cloud Suck'? The Rare Phenomenon That Lifted Chinese Paraglider To 28,000 Feet
A dramatic video recently went viral showing a 55-year-old Chinese paraglider, Peng Yujiang, being unexpectedly lifted to an altitude of 8,598 metres over China's Qilian Mountains due to a rare phenomenon known as "cloud suck". This extreme incident has garnered significant attention online. Peng, who was testing secondhand paragliding equipment at approximately 3,000 metres, encountered the updraft that carried him nearly 5,000 metres higher. He endured temperatures around -40 degrees Celsius and dangerously low oxygen levels. Despite experiencing hypoxia and severe frostbite, Peng managed to remain conscious and safely navigated back to the ground. Watch the video here: A freak updraft over the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau lifted Chinese Paraglider Peng Yujiang nearly nine kilometers in minutes — and the entire flight was caught on camera. Screenshots from Peng's GPS flight tracker show he took off at 12:19 p.m. from the Qilian Mountains, an area… — Sixth Tone (@SixthTone) May 28, 2025 "I had just bought a second-hand paragliding harness and wanted to test it, so I was conducting ground parachute shaking. After a while, the wind suddenly picked up and lifted me into the air. I tried to land as soon as possible, but I failed," Peng told CCTV Tuesday. "I found myself surrounded by cumulonimbus clouds and trapped inside. It was terrifying - everything around me was white. Without the compass, I wouldn't have known which direction I was heading. I thought I was flying straight, but in reality, I was spinning. Eventually, I managed to fly out toward the northeast," he added. A video capturing his ordeal, showing him covered in ice and visibly shaken, went viral on Douyin, China's version of TikTok. Peng and his friend, who posted the video, received six-month bans from paragliding activities due to unauthorised flight and safety violations. What Is Cloud Suck and How It Led to Peng Yujiang's Paragliding Incident Aviation expert Wang Yanan explained to China Media Group CGTN that the incident involving Peng Yujiang was caused by a phenomenon called cloud suck. This occurs when a paraglider is pulled into strong upward air currents near cumulonimbus clouds. These powerful updrafts can rapidly increase the pilot's altitude, but this sudden rise is both intense and unpredictable, posing serious dangers. Wang emphasised, "Such rapid ascents are extremely hazardous. Once inside the cloud, the pilot may encounter severe cold, lack of oxygen, turbulence, and even lightning. At very high altitudes, these threats become even more severe, making cloud suck potentially life-threatening." Additionally, Wang cautioned that flying above 8,000 metres places paragliders dangerously close to the cruising altitude of commercial aeroplanes, increasing the risk of collision and other aviation hazards.
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Chinese paraglider reaches near-record heights, over 28,000 feet, by accident
A paraglider in China who had intended to simply test some equipment instead ended up unwittingly reaching barely survivable heights last week. Peng Yujiang, a 55-year-old paraglider in Gansu province, on Saturday morning flew nearly 8,600 meters above sea level -- more than 28,200 feet, or about 5.3 miles -- in the Qilian mountain range of northwest China's Qinghai and Gansu provinces, according to state media. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The episode was captured on a camera attached to his equipment and showed the harrowing conditions he experienced. Peng rose to a level almost on par with Mount Everest's summit and aviation flight paths. His face and body are covered in frost and ice in the video, which was originally posted to social media and later shared by Chinese state media. "I felt the lack of oxygen. My hands were frozen outside. I kept trying to talk on the radio," Peng said in a video recorded after the incident, according to Sixth Tone, an English-language, Chinese state-owned outlet. According to local news media, Peng was testing equipment as part of "ground handling training" -- a step that paragliders say is critical to managing safe launches -- at an altitude of 3,000 meters above sea level, or about 10,000 feet. But a strong wind suddenly lifted him into the sky. He could not control the glider or land as the draft grew stronger and he was pulled up above the clouds. Peng was apparently the victim of a potentially dangerous phenomenon that paragliders call "cloud suck," in which a pilot is rapidly drawn upward into a cloud. At extreme altitudes, people risk hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, because of the thin air. Severe hypoxia can cause organ damage or death. Still, Peng managed to land about 20 miles away from where he took off. In stable health and recovering from his surprise flight, he has since said, "Thinking about it still makes me quite scared," China Daily reported Thursday. The local sporting authority in Gansu province said Wednesday that Peng, who is a licensed paraglider, would be barred from the sport for six months; it also noted that flying activities at sites in the area would be suspended for an unspecified period, local news media reported. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now But the association deemed Peng's incident an accident, based on his statement that he did not have a flight planned and was doing ground handling training, which does not require participants to register plans in advance, the reports said. A second pilot was also banned from flying for six months, because he released footage of the incident without permission, the authority's report said, according to the South China Morning Post. Peng was not the first paraglider to accidentally reach such extreme heights. In 2007, Ewa Wisnierska, a champion Polish paraglider who competed on the German national team, reached around 10,000 meters, or over 32,000 feet, accidentally breaking the paragliding height record on a practice flight in Australia, just days before the World Paragliding Championships. Her 6-mile ascent was treacherous, and she passed out in the air, eventually landing more than 50 miles away from where she took off, on a farm. Another paraglider who was caught in cloud suck that day did not survive. "Today, I still fly -- but just for pleasure and to give courses to the people who come to my paragliding school. Competing no longer makes any sense to me," Wisnierska told People magazine last year. "This definitely changed a lot of priorities and made me realize that there are much more important things in life than championship cups and medals. I often ask myself why was it that I survived and this other pilot did not?"
Economic Times
a day ago
- Climate
- Economic Times
Is it a plane or a satellite? No, it's a Chinese paraglider at 8000 m above earth, frozen with no oxygen and still surviving
TIL Creatives Chinese paraglider at 8000 m above earth Peng Yujiang, a seasoned Chinese paraglider, on May 24, 2025, found himself at the center of a harrowing and extraordinary survival story—one that has captivated China's adventure sports community and drawn comparisons to some of the most extreme feats in paragliding history. Peng, who has been paragliding since at least 2021 according to his WeChat posts, launched from the Qilian Mountains in northwestern China, a region known for its government-backed paragliding base and as host of the Coupe Icare China. What was intended as a routine ground-based training session quickly turned perilous. About 20 minutes after takeoff, Peng was caught in a rare and dangerous meteorological phenomenon known as 'cloud suck'—a powerful updraft within a cumulonimbus cloud that can rapidly pull gliders thousands of meters upward. Data from Peng's GPS tracker, later shared on social media, revealed he was lifted to a staggering altitude of 8,598 meters (28,200 feet)—just shy of the cruising altitude of commercial jetliners and perilously close to the world record for unassisted paragliding altitude. The ascent rate peaked at 9.7 meters per second (35 km/h), and temperatures plummeted to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Footage from Peng's own camera shows him coated in ice, without supplemental oxygen, struggling to communicate via radio as his hands such altitudes, oxygen levels are dangerously low and the risk of hypoxia, frostbite, and unconsciousness is extreme. Remarkably, Peng managed to stay conscious and maintain control for over an hour, eventually landing safely 33 kilometers from his launch site. 'I felt the lack of oxygen. My hands were frozen outside. I kept trying to talk on the radio,' Peng recounted in a Douyin video posted after his flight. His ordeal echoes that of German paraglider Ewa Wiśnierska, who survived a similar incident in 2007 after being lifted to 9,946 meters in Australia and losing consciousness for nearly 40 minutes. Both stories highlight the unpredictable dangers of high-altitude paragliding. Following the incident, the Aero Sports Association of Gansu Province confirmed Peng's flight was not officially approved. Peng claimed he was conducting ground training when the winds unexpectedly lifted him. The association classified the event as an accident rather than illegal flying, but suspended Peng's flying privileges for six months pending who holds a valid paragliding license and has logged multiple high-altitude flights in the region, has since avoided media attention, asking the public to refrain from amplifying the incident. His Douyin account has been set to private, and his flight record removed from XContest, a global paragliding Chinese regulations, all paragliding flights require prior approval and are prohibited in poor weather conditions. The ongoing investigation underscores the risks and regulatory challenges facing China's growing adventure sports scene.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NBC Deletes Viral Chinese Paraglider Video That Appears to Be ‘AI-Generated'; CNN, NYT Stories Remain Live
NBC News on Friday deleted a video that showed a Chinese paraglider returning from a harrowing and unexpected 5-mile ascent into the sky because the clip appeared to be 'AI-generated,' according to an editor's note on the website. The outlet 'determined that some of the footage provided by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV and distributed by Reuters that appeared in our initial coverage was AI-generated,' the note said. Reuters did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment. NBC News added: 'We have removed this video and are continuing to report on the veracity of the story. This note will be updated in due course.' A person familiar with NBC's decision to pull the viral video said the outlet is looking into whether the video was AI generated or cleaned up with AI tools. Stories on the paraglider remain live on CNN and The New York Times as of Friday morning. CNN reported that Chinese paraglider Peng Yujiang is 'lucky' to be alive following the supposed scary ascent. 'Peng reportedly went soaring 8,598 meters or about 28,208 feet without oxygen; amateur video shared by Chinese state media showed Peng with ice covering his face and clothes while drifting in the clouds,' CNN wrote in its coverage. The NYT had a similar recap, saying the episode was 'captured on a camera' attached to Peng's equipment and shared on social media, before later being posted by Chinese state media. Like CNN, the Times reported his body was 'covered in frost and ice' after rising to a 'level almost on par with Mount Everest's summit.' Peng had been swept higher from about 10,000 feet by a 'strong wind,' the Times noted, while pointing to 'local news media' in China. Those looking for the story on NBC News' website are now greeted with a message saying, 'We apologize, this video has expired,' followed by the editor's note. The post NBC Deletes Viral Chinese Paraglider Video That Appears to Be 'AI-Generated'; CNN, NYT Stories Remain Live appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Chinese paraglider claims to survive accidental 8,000m-high flight
A Chinese paraglider has claimed to have survived being accidentally propelled 8,500m (27,800ft) into the sky above north-west China, state media report. Peng Yujiang, 55, says he was testing new equipment at 3,000m above sea level, over the Qilian mountains, when a rare updraft or air current known as a "cloud suck" pulled him about 5,000m higher into a cloud formation. Saturday's events were filmed on a camera mounted on Mr Peng's glider and has gone viral after being posted on Douyin, China's version of TikTok. The footage, which showed Mr Peng holding onto the glider's controls with his face and much of his body covered in ice crystals, has since been questioned by US broadcaster NBC. NBC said the logo of an artificial intelligence company had been cropped out of the footage. The BBC has been unable to independently verify the video, but the incident was widely reported in China, with Mr Peng giving an interview to journalists. "It was terrifying... Everything was white. I couldn't see any direction. Without the compass, I wouldn't have known which way I was going. I thought I was flying straight, but in reality, I was spinning," he told China Media Group. Mr Peng said he narrowly survived death as oxygen is thin at that altitude - slightly lower than the 8,849m peak of Mount Everest. Temperatures can also fall to -40C. "I wanted to come down quickly, but I just couldn't. I was lifted higher and higher until I was inside the cloud," he said. Mr Peng, who has been paragliding for four and a half years, said he might have lost consciousness during his descent. As a result of the footage, Mr Peng has been suspended for six months because the flight was unauthorised, state-run Global Times reported. Officials are also investigating the incident. Update 30 May 2025: An earlier of this article included a video of footage shared on Chinese social media and broadcast on state television purporting to show the paraglider's flight. This has been removed while we investigate further after questions were raised about its authenticity.
