A Russian paraglider narrowly escaped death after colliding mid-air with an eagle high over the Himalayas in India, a stunning video making the rounds on the Internet reveals.
Vladimir Tsarkov, 25, was just seconds into an adrenaline-pumping jump in mid-October when he encountered the imposing bird of prey that got tangled in the rigging of his chute, sending him into a terrifying plunge toward earth — all of it captured by a camera attached to his body.
Fortunately for Tsarkov, he was able to quickly trigger a reserve chute, and drifted gently back to earth before crashing through the branches of a small tree and coming to rest on the ground — the stately gray-and-white bird still tangled up in his chute.
"I hit an eagle on the way down, but I'm OK," a shockingly calm Tsarkov explained to his pals by radio. "Thank God that chute worked."
The video — which can be seen on YouTube — then shows Tsarkov struggling for several minutes to untangle the spooked animal. Once he managed to set it loose, the bird flew off as if nothing had happened.
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