There is nothing quite like filming yourself having a near-death experience to generate interest in a YouTube page.
Paraglider Kevin Philipp, who has 626 subscribers to his page, had more than 137,000 views to a video he posted Monday that showed him grappling with death after a parachute malfunction.
Philipp explained it all in a post that accompanied his video.
“Acro paragliding trick in strong turbulence went wrong,” he said in a mammoth understatement.
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“Left break line got stuck for a moment to break fully. The glider shot to the front and I fell inside. Next step in paragliding is to use your safety parachute stored in your seat/harness. In aerobatics we even use 2 or 3 extra rescue systems to save ourselves from this kind of situations,” he wrote.
All that sounds like being prepared, but no one is really prepared for a real-life fall while nothing seems to work.
Paraglider Kevin Philipp is lucky to be alive after his glider lines became badly entangled, sending him plummeting to the ground, before deploying his rescue chute a second before impact. https://t.co/Su07Vzipqg
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 2, 2022
Would you ever do this?
Yes: 0% (0 Votes)
No: 100% (1 Votes)
“But falling into the paraglider and lines made the rescue parachute openings very difficult. The falling speed increased a lot due to the twisting wing. Very last chance was to manually open the rescue package,” he wrote.
That the video exists is proof he made it, but he noted there was not much time to spare.
“Estimated time (before impact) left about 1-2 seconds. This was not the day to die! Thanks!!!”
Philipp did not exactly call his sport safe, but said, in essence, stuff happens.
Kevin Philipp, dude in this video, called it NO TIME TO DIE. SHE-IT, this is terrifying. I’ve had to use a reserve chute twice, but never under this much pressure. 1 second left…
😮 💪🏿
Credit Instagram kevin.philipp pic.twitter.com/qb5NQGUWxM— Martin Walsh 🇺🇦 (@martinwalsh) August 1, 2022
“In acro paragliding we face a lot of tries and errors in learning the tricks. With 2-3 rescue parachutes and a lot of height we can safely train this kind of sport. This occasion is quite unlucky and rare,” he wrote.
“Just to keep in mind. Fly high, land safe,” he gave in signing off.
Philipp was not one to spend time moping about nearing dying.
On his Instagram account, he posted the text “Back in attack!” on the next video after the one in which he cheated death.
His Facebook page notes that his paragliding has not been without setbacks.
“Im on a great way to come back soon. After months of darkness, pain and hard work life is showing me the bright side again!” he posted in 2018.
