https://www.yoursun.com/northport/gursky-flies-again/article_2818020c-dfaa-11e9-a210-2bfefa705c6a.html

It was intimidating as he stood near the same place where a
hang-gliding mishap less than a year ago nearly cost him his life.

But once Chris Gursky’s flight began, it was a great part of a “fabulous” trip.

“This was the same launch area as my first attempt. So looking down at the run
area was tough,” he said via instant messenger Wednesday morning.

The flight took place earlier Wednesday in the Swiss town where he was set to
hang glide in October 2018.

That one didn’t go so well. When his pilot forgot to attach him properly to the
aircraft, the North Port man had to hang on by one hand for more than 2 minutes
10 seconds — rising more than 1,000 feet in the air — before the glider slowly
came down and he fell as his foot dragged onto the ground.

Of course, that’s the reason people around the world know about Gursky. The
video of his death-defying flight went viral, with more than 10 million views
within the year.

But that was last year. On Wednesday, he experienced a much different ride that
lasted about 10 minutes.

He said any intimidation or fear left “when my feet left the ground and we took
off.”

“I feel like a weight was lifted off of me,” Gursky wrote in the instant
message, discussing “conquering this.”

He said it was important for him to be there with his wife, who also experienced
her second hang-gliding flight.

He never has expressed much anger about the mistake and was impressed with how
Swiss officials worked to make up for the situation. “There was a ton of support
from the Swiss hang-gliding community,” he said. “We had dinner with the
president and director of the Swiss hang gliding association.”

While their first trip ended with a hospital stay, this one has been something
he is going to remember. “It was also very generous of the Interlaken tourism
board to have us come out for the vacation re-do. We are very grateful for that
as this trip has been fabulous,” he wrote.