Paraglider spins out of control in high winds and hits high-voltage power line in Brazil [video]

A paraglider was lucky to survive after crashing into a high-voltage power line when he spun out of control in high winds.

Footage filmed in the Charitas neighbourhood of Niteroi, southeast Brazil, on November 18 shows the novice paraglider plummeting towards the street between two tall apartment blocks.

He hits the power line with a loud bang that brings bystanders rushing over to help him.

The paraglider, Jose A. de Lacerda, a Rio de Janeiro military police sergeant, sustained serious spinal injuries. 

Mr de Lacerda had been planning to land on Charitas Beach after launching from the Sao Francisco district of the city, according to the news site Metropoles, but instead crashed a three-minute walk away.  

Dalton Machado, president of a local paragliding club, said Mr de Lacerda was lucky to survive. 

In the footage, Mr de Lacerda’s paraglider is seen dramatically throwing him across the sky as he loses control of the chute.

He is jolted back to the right before his parachute swiftly drops and hits the power cable at speed.

Jose A. de Lacerda, 48, spins towards the street in the Charitas neighbourhood of Niteroi, Brazil, on November 18

A loud rattling noise is heard as his chute hits the line and he cries out in pain as he hits the ground. 

People in the street, Rua Clotilde Maria Linhares Pinsky, quickly rush over to help him and the filmer, who appears to be in one of the apartment blocks, zooms in.

Mr de Lacerda is seen moving his arms and legs in the footage but he suffered serious spinal injuries, it was later reported.

Mr de Lacerda was taken by the fire department to Hospital Estadual Azevedo Lima for treatment after residents rushed to his aid when he called out in pain

Mr de Lacerda was seen moving his legs and arms around on the floor but sustained serious spinal injuries. He is now in a stable condition in hospital

He was taken by the fire department to Hospital Estadual Azevedo Lima for treatment.

Military police today said he was in a stable condition, according to Correio Brazilienze Brazil.   

Mr Machado, of paragliding club Clube Oceanico de Voo Livre, said Mr de Lacerda was lucky to survive the accident.  

Mr Machado said he should have been accompanied on the jump as he was inexperienced.

He said that the Parque da Cidade, in Sao Francisco, had a public take-off ramp which meant they could not prevent anyone from flying. 

Mr de Lacerda loses control of his paraglider and spins close to an apartment block in the Charitas neighbourhood of Niteroi, southeast Brazil