Witnesses on a South Florida beach watched a powered paraglider plunge hundreds of feet into the Atlantic last week—then saw the pilot walk away virtually unharmed. Police in Riviera Beach say the 52-year-old man from Pompano Beach fell an estimated 500 feet into the ocean on Friday off of Singer Island, per Fox News. Cellphone video captured the paraglider's sudden drop after what a lifeguard described as a troubling change in his flight pattern, apparently triggered by a gust of wind.
Lifeguard Sarah Williamson of Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue tells WFLX she started sprinting as soon as she realized something was wrong and radioed a colleague, and the pair paddled out with rescue gear. Beachgoers also jumped in, including a snorkeler who dove beneath the surface to untangle the man from his lines. The snorkeler "was a godsend because we did not have a mask, and he was able to get underwater and free the man while we secured him," Williamson says.
Rescuers brought the pilot and his gear back to shore, and authorities say he wasn't injured, save for some cuts and scrapes. He was wearing a helmet, per WFLX. He'd taken off from Ocean Cay Park in Jupiter and was flying south before the fall. Police haven't released his name. Williamson later learned the height of the drop and called it "an incredible thing to survive." FOX 13 notes it's not clear what caused the man to fall from the sky.
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