Thank you for your transparency. Learning from your own mistakes requires a "payment", while learning from others offers a scholarship. Thanks for paying the tuition on this so I don't have to. I hope you're well recovered and back in the sky. Cheers!

First Mistake: Jumping off a perfectly good working ground.

It takes a lot of courage to show a video where you made such a serious mistake. Thanks! A life might be saved because of you.

Not only did he comment his mistakes in the recording, he even gave us a demonstration on what went wrong afterwards. A++, thank you.

It's honestly incredible that the velcro held your weight at all

I feel like there should be 2 points of attachment just in case one fails

Most of the time you hear people say " I almost died" they are exaggerating, not in this case, you are certainly very lucky.

I'm actually a climber not a hang glider, but being willing to share this and being self critical and honest is so important for a community like this. It's how we all learn, props to you for posting.

You not only caught yourself on the disconnect, but you captured the momentum from your free legs swinging forward on the back stroke to capitalize on it and perform a rough muscle-up to get yourself over the bar and throw the elbows around. Watching in .25 speed really highlights not just that you gripped to stop falling, but that your body had the awareness and you brought the fitness to save yourself with complex gymnastic skill. Very cool, and thanks for sharing! I was so nervous waiting to see what was coming next.

It’s crazy how fast human reflexes are. It looked like you had a very relaxed grip and when it snapped, your brain instantly gripped harder saving yourself. Very lucky to be alive. Edit - WHOAAA, had no idea at the feedback I received from this comment. I’m glad everybody was thinking the same thing as me. Everybody have a blessed day!

That terrifying moment when the term hang glider became way too literal

The fact that you kept yourself in good physical health to be able to save your life should be commended. Having presence of mind means nothing if you cannot act on it.

I just wanted to say thanks for sharing this. It’s important for people to see how easy it is for a seemingly small mistake to turn life or death in a truly high risk sport. That took a some humility and integrity - character. This is how to build a sport up. It’s still just a childhood dream of mine at 51.

The anxiety of seeing you let go of the bar every-now-and-then, knowing that you could've fallen right then and there...

Those 2 times you took your hands completely off the base tube though 😱😱😱 -- you're so beyond lucky!!! It just wasn't your time to go.

OMG that's terrifying. Lightning fast reflexes! Surprising there are no backup systems for these.

The moments before it happens where he takes his hands off the bar are terrifying

Bread was not buttered on the landing but more accurately toasted

Thank you for sharing this video. It’s videos like these that I have been thoroughly watching before I take my first plunge into hang gliding. I’m very grateful that you are OK

Wow! what a video! You are so fortunate to have survived. A very similar incident happen to a hang glider pilot in Cairns, North Queensland Australia in the early 1990s. He was very experienced and flying was the love of his life keeping his glider on roof of his car all the time except when it was time to fly. One day he decided to use the same strap that you used because he apparently wanted to use a shorter hang loop that day. He did not realize that this strap was not meant to be used as a main hang loop? He also did not use a secondary backup hang loop which he would have known he should do. The 'strap' broke and it was all over. Too high at the time, rocks below. RIP Mick! Always best not to take any chances with equipment, have at least one backup plan for failures, and always triple-check everything before flying.

your reaction time was incredible.

2:27 "Too Low, Terrain, Too Low, Terrain, PULL UP *WOOP WOOP*, PULL UP *WOOP WOOP*, PULL UP. BANK ANGLE" But seriously, glad you're okay!

Impressive, scary, educational! I love your comments at the end and the mention of installing a second loop- the significance of redundancy cannot be overstated

I'm glad you survived mostly intact. I'm glad wisdom was gained from the mishap. I hope you're still well and have continued hang gliding. Thank you for sharing.

Not only amazing reaction time with your grip, but the strength to hold the initial G-force of going from zero pounds to full body weight in a split (and totally unexpected) second. That was terrifying, glad you are still with us!

HUGE props for being so aware of your usage of gear to know exactly what went wrong and what to do to prevent the issue in the future. Not just some random thrill seeker, you know what to do. 10/10

This video needa to be shown in the courses for hang gliding, this demonstrates visually and in very detailed explanation & words. Aswell as picture by picture of what happens systematically. Thank you for this.

I want to say I have watched this numerous times and find it amazing that you were that hurt really bad. Thank God for you having the ability to hang on!!

I clicked on this thinking it would be one of those overly dramatic "I almost died" videos where the person wasn't really even close to dying. Well, shit. That's certainly not the case here. You were sooo close to dying here it's crazy that you even made it. Scary as hell.

A standard hang check and lift and tug hook in check still could have missed this problem. Hooking in first then crawling into the harness still could have missed this problem. Listen up hang gliding community, anyone posting anything ridiculing this pilot will be doing this sport a huge disservice. I’ve witnessed it in the past where a post was taken down due to pretentious know-it-alls. So far everyone has been supportive and I hope that continues. Thanks for the video. I’m going on 42 years in the sport and you just taught me something else that requires my attention. This video is a life saver.

Thanks for sharing. I can imagine that many would not want to "talk" about this, but showing this may save lives.

Thank you for posting the visual explanation at the end. Very helpful.

when the shit happened your brain basically told your arms/shoulders muscles: "Hey now is the time to go 100%" It's incredible to see how crazy strong and powerful agile and responsive a body can be in extreme life situations.

I think you took the term "hang gliding" far too literally! Seriously though, very glad it didn't end worse, and I commend you for sharing this. I can see how it's an easy mistake to make with the velcro strap...an excellent learning opportunity for everyone.

Glad you’re alive my friend, thanks for posting as it’s a great lesson for others.

Man, that was stressful and had me feeling anxiety watching that! Glad you made it through that.

Jesus man, thank God for your grip, glad you’re well!

I admire the author for admitting his mistakes and sharing publicly so others can learn and avoid this situation.

Dude, this is incredible. I'm amazed you had the reaction to grip without falling. I'm also amazed you didn't do a anything major in terms of injuries (although knees take forever to heal). Good job staying in control and I hope you healed up OK.

I appreciate that you shared this horrible experience to help other people. Well done! Happy you are fine!!!!

Velcro is good for people who cant do shoe laces - flying hang gliders.. not so much :)

The grip strenght to catch yourself like that is insane. I guess the adrenaline helped.

Thank God you are ok. Good reflexes and better attitude sharing your experience to avoid others being harmed. Cheers!!!

I commend you for going into great detail about your experience. Im sure you saved a few lives!

Spectator: Aww look a handglider! he must be having a blast up there! lol

That's why they use in civil aviation the four eyes principle. We all make mistakes. I showed this video to my dad who was once considered Europe's best hang gliding sail maker. He told me that the 1979 world champion Josef Guggenmos (he won with a hang glider build by my dad) made the same mistake once and only survived with a few broken bones because he managed to navigate close to a near mountain and jumped a few meters when he was close. I'm truly happy nothing happened to you so we can call this lesson learned the hard way. Take care!

Glad you made it man. As a former paratrooper, I'll have to compliment you on your cool-headedness and stellar landing!

You are Blessed! So happy you're safe and wish you all the best in life. Take good care

I just wonder why there's even velcro involved.

I Like How He tells his mistakes but also tells positive Points

happy you are alive... thanks for share this! very usefull for others delta pilots!! Fly Safe! Good Flights!

And the pre flights and attention to set up details become instantaneously much more thorough and careful. Glad you made it. When the harness line let loose I think my heart skipped a beat. I'm betting yours did, literally.

That you were able to able to hold on in that situation is nothing short of stupendous. Glad you're still with us. Your continuing to make roll corrections to keep the wing level until the end is remarkable. You really kept your cool in a terrible situation. Manufacturers decided some time ago to use an integral back-up strap, ostensibly for drag reduction. This idea completely ignores one of the two reasons for having a BU-strap. Reason #1. Main strap failure. Reason #2. Failure to hook in properly. If there is a separate BU, any sensible pilot will extend the BU too. One could conceivably hook in incorrectly to both, but a redundant BU at least doubles your chance of success. The problem with the integral BU hang strap is that it looks like one hang strap. Newer pilots who are not familiar with the idea of a BU will extend the one strap when they really should use an additional BU extension, which would have saved the day in this case. I carry an extra-long hang loop in my harness with my extension loops, so I can add a separate BU when needed. If manufacturers will revert back to the original logic of a separate BU strap, pilots' lives will be saved. No pilot flying for fun needs to reduce drag to this degree. Most pilots plow through the air head-up anyway making the idea of trying to hide the BU drag in the main ludicrous. Comp pilots will always trade safety for performance, but rec pilots should not be mislead into thinking we need this minuscule drag-reduction feature at the detriment of safety. I know a guy who's main broke while he was looping. The separate BU saved him. I knew a guy who died because he didn't hook into his extension correctly around the time the first integral BUs were introduced. I'm sure that he would have extended the BU had there been a separate BU strap hanging there in front of his face while he was hooking in. That's why we need a separate BU. The idea that hooking your harness into your glider before you climb in will prevent launching unhooked is a fallacy, because we humans are fallible. As long as there is a carabiner that can be unhooked, an unusual situation will arise when the pilot (a human being) will unhook and forget to hook back in. There is no foolproof way of preventing unhooked launches unless the harness does not detach from the glider. The best way I have seen that reduces the likelihood of launching unhooked is "Marginal" Mark's method of lifting the glider until you feel the leg loops pull up on your legs, then launch in that condition. This also insures that you are in your leg loops. This method does take a fair amount of strength. If you are not strong enough to hold the glider up while you launch, you should at least do a quick lift to feel the leg loops tighten just before you go.

my jaw literally dropped when i saw you catch yourself and realized nothing was holding you on anymore

That had to be terrifying, so glad you caught yourself, good catch!

Great reflexes and you kept your head in an extremely dangerous situation. Well done! I can't imagine what your heart rate was as it was happening

I had an accident back in the 80's, where the tow boat took off too fast, catapulted me and the glider out over the water from the breakwater beach, and then the boat motor stalled. This allowed the glider to slowly sink to the bottom at about 18 feet deep in the channel with me still attached in the harness. No we stupidly didn't have adequate flotation on the glider!. I then spent over two minutes trying to detach the harness clip so that I could escape from underneath the glider. There was a couple of feet of water above the glider sail, I was under the sail, and the glider A frame was resting on the sand bottom of the harbor. I could not see clearly without a mask, and I didn't realize that the shock of the launch had jammed the harness clip and it was never going to release. After about two minutes I suddenly realized that that clip was not releasing and that I was way out of air. It was drowning time. Luckily we were avid skin and scuba divers, so being relaxed and holding my breath under water for longish periods when spearing was something that I was accustomed to. I was out of air and about to breath water, but somehow on the edge of panic a plan B occurred to me, which was to undo all the Velcro harness attachments and swim out of the harness itself. This was more difficult and much slower than a simple clip release, but I managed it in record time, and now completely desperate for air swam upside down out from under the sail and then up up up to the surface. That swim seemed to take forever. The beach was only about 25 feet away. I was heavy breathing for a couple minutes to regain my breath. The boat then arrived to the rescue, they had to paddle back as they couldn't get the motor restarted. They reckon that I came up looking completely blue. It was the perfect example of multiple mistakes adding up to create a life threatening situation. In this case we made several serious mistakes, and I was very lucky to survive unscathed. Trust me when I say, I was a much wiser (and older) person after that accident. These days I've become a person who almost religiously prepares for the worst while hoping for the best. Stopping and thinking things through and then preparing adequately, really could save your life.

I am surprised buddy caught himself in time. Most people would have slipped off. It's amazing how the human body can respond in time of crisis. I used to hang glide in my 20's. It was like a flying dream, reality blended with amazing fantasy. I loved it!

Thank you so much for sharing this I'm sure a lot of people will learn from this. Not a lot of people want to show their mistakes but there's a lot to be learnt thank you

Wow! Thanks for posting! Im glad you weren't too badly injured and hope you've gotten back to the skies?!? Im trying to get my pilot's cert in the next year.

Being blind sighted and falling at the same time has to be one of the scariest things ever

Never met you and feel so grateful that you’re alive!

Thank God your alive! you muist of had a gut feeling to take gloves off ... man the way you reacted when the valcro broke was very impresive

At around 3.45, you still had the presence of mind to input a small weight shift while hanging from the base bar. It’s clear that that little correction prevented a possible roll to the left, which would have made things even worse…if that’s possible! Thanks for sharing this video. Not only have you likely saved lives because pilots will re-visit their hang loop setup, you’ve probably prevented some possible serious injuries.

This the most accurate, non-clickbate title on UKposts. I’m glad you survived and thanks for sharing.

Even knowing you survived, this was so completely nerve wracking to watch. Thankful you are safe.

Wow. That was intense. Glad you lived to tell the tale. Angel watching you buddy

So damn lucky there my mate, glad you came through it. At least you've learned something and increased your respect for safety protocol 👍👍👊

New meaning to "Fight or Flight" . What an incredible reaction time you had there..

I'm quite surprised you wouldn't have a secondary safety. that's terrifying, glad you're ok

Holy smokes! What a sequence of events! Glad you are still with us!

Great video. You have a mentality that helps the sport forward: open, willing to reflect and doing that in a very concise manner. Thanks for sharing your story.

Thank you for sharing! Most people hide videos like this because they forget everyone makes mistakes. To survive hazardous endeavors, we need to identify risk and learn to minimize it. This video has been viewed so many times, it is likely you have saved at least one life already by just reminding people to check their hang loop, much less just take a step back and reassess their risk portfolio. Cheers and fly safe!

Wow, seeing that gives me chills, glad it worked out , way to "hang in there"

Scary glad you ok man. Thanks for the cautionary advice

Thank you for sharing, interesting video. Glad to hear that you only sustained minor injuries. That "landing" looked violent.

Your video and the detailed narrative explaining what went wrong has very likely saved someone else's life. Bravo to you for figuring out your mistake and shining a light on it for everyone to see and learn from. Best wishes to a full recovery!

I get a mini heart attack by missing a step walking down the stairs imagine the absolute terror of you just vibing and gliding and then this happens

Glad you made it with realitivly minor injuries compared when could have happened at your altitude when the failure occurred! Also great you had enough upper body strength and quick reflexes to save yourself. Great cautionary video. Wish there would have been more like this back in the 70's when so many pilots fired up a doobie and forgot to hook in....

Thanks for documenting in detail and sharing the “lesson learned”

Thank you for sharing! This video has had more impact on me than all of the other hanggliding mishap videos I have see. Glad you survived.

What makes this video truly great is that at the end you went through a full list of things that went wrong and what to look for in the future, giving your viewers a potentially safer flight the next time they go up.

I've had a few near death experiences while cave diving but this one was really teetering on the line. I can't believe you managed to hang on at that split second when it let go after casually letting go of the bar so many times. Well done sir you're alive.

Great that you posted this so others can see the potential problems. Glad you’re ok

Scary stuff. We all make mistakes and thankfully you get to learn from this one. I am amazed the injuries weren't more serious. Also amazed at your instant grip.

Thanks for sharing this! I'm a hang 4 (for non hang-glider pilots, that's "Advanced-rated" pilot) and fly the mountains in CO a lot. I easily could have done something like this, myself. Your willingness to share is greatly appreciated. So glad you were low and not in huge turbulence and hung on. So great.

Glad that you alive! Hope that you life just became better after this awakening incident - understanding of the unavoidable death makes life brighter.

Thank goodness you are ok, many thanks for posting keep safe and happy flying 🤟

This almost ended up on a different side of UKposts

I've been reading about failures to hook in for the past 30 plus years! This will continue to happen! Your video will surely prevent a few from not happening! Thanks for sharing!

God smiled on you that day my friend!!!. Thankfully you had the grip strength to hold on. Thanks for sharing with us so others can learn. This was 4 years ago, so I'm sure you back in the harness. :)

it is beautiful the amount of luck it took to survive this. There was such a high possibility of you dying and the fact that you survived is incredible

I've been flying for many years and this was always something I worried about. Seeing this happen to you, puts this back in the front of my brain. The next time I hook-in, I'll think of this video. Thanks for sharing.

Great video, I hope this will learn a lot of pilots/soon to be pilots the importance of pre flight checks and also to make sure not to do this Also I have a lot of respect for your courage to continue doing the sport and to post this video to learn other people about safety

OMG!... I'm glad you're well. I flew hang gliders in Mexico Valle de Bravo for 10 years. Now I'm too old to fly back, but I miss it a lot!

And this is why we don't have single points of fatal failure, kids. You are soooooo lucky. Thank you for sharing your mishap as a teachable moment for everyone.

I couldn't imagine working as a roofer and relying on Velcro as PPE.

Wow, that is incredible. Apart from the harness, everything else seemed super lucky!!!! Be careful and take care!

You probably saved lives with this video. Thank you for sharing

Thank you for having the humility to post this. It may very well save lives.