Ben Lewis

A pilot has miraculously survived being swept to more than 8,500m (27,800ft) in a storm cloud in China. In surreal video footage that has since gone viral, Peng Yujiang can be seen encased in ice flying above cloud after a cross-country flight in the Qilian Mountains went disastrously wrong.

Pilot swept to 8,500m in China survives

A Chinese pilot has miraculously survived one of the worst incidents of cloudsuck, after being swept to more than 8,000m
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Ben Lewis had been in Bir for three weeks before his incident, which saw him reach more than 7,000m in a cu-nim. Photo: Ben Lewis

“The vario was just screaming”

Canadian pilot Dr Ben Lewis was swept to 7,374m in a storm cloud in Bir in India in October 2024 and lived. He tells his story
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Ben Lewis's tracklog from paragliding in a storm cloud in Bir, India.

‘It was just so strong – there was nothing I could do’

Canadian paraglider pilot Dr Ben Lewis was swept to 7,374m in a storm in the Indian Himalaya. Remarkably, he lived to tell the tale
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A storm in the mountains behind Bir, India. Photo: Jerome Maupoint

Pilot swept to 7,300m in Himalayan storm – and survives

A Canadian pilot has shared the terrifying story of being swept up to more than 7,000m in a storm cloud while paragliding in the Himalaya
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