Sooranad (Kollam): A man who tried to fly with a makeshift paraglider kept villagers on tenterhook after the apparatus got caught in a tall tree. He was helped by the onlookers out of the tree and sent home.
The innovator, identified as a youngster from Kumaramchira, reached the Malanada temple by evening and proceeded to a nearby hillock with the glider he had put together. His safety gear was just a helmet.
He managed to get a lift after he jumped off the hillock. He seemed to be in a smooth flight until strong winds carried him to the tree.
He lay tangled in the tree for about an hour before being rescued. Later he rode back on his motorcycle.
The experiment could have taken a tragic turn in an area where a high-tension power line went through.
Local panchayat member R Radha said that the adventurer had tried similar air stunts in the locality earlier but they persuaded him to go back.
Paragliders in India require an authorisation from the Directorate of Civil Aviation.
