[imagecredit:Marlei Martinez]

A training exercise spiralled a little out of hand when a paraglider veered off course in Yuba County, USA.

The paraglider, who has remained anonymous, spent hours dangling above a road before he was rescued by local firefighters and people from the Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

He was supposed to touch down at the Yuba County airport. Instead, he ended up in some power lines in Olivehurst, about 64 kilometres north of Sacramento.

A map, so that you can see why this is a serious deviation from the plan:

While this isn’t nearly as entertaining as that time a paraglider was kicked by a kangaroo after landing, here he is, dangling, while firefighters try to free him from the tangle of wires:

While we usually avoid Fox News, where else will you get technical descriptions like “the paragliding aspects of his contraption”?

Well done, Eric.

Over to the Los Angeles Times for some insight from the firefighters who eventually freed the uninjured paraglider.

“The difficulty was making sure that the lines were de-energized to make sure that our firefighters were safe before we could make patient contact,” Battalion Chief Randy York said.

“Our main focus was letting him know to stay in contact with the aircraft and not to reach out and touch us so that the aircraft stayed still,” York said. “He’s exhausted, but all his vitals seem to be stable.”

I also doubt he completed that part of his training.

It might be a while before he’s certified.

[source:latimes]