North Port man gets hang-gliding redemption after near-tragic flight last year

NORTH PORT, Fla. - The last time North Port’s Chris Gursky tried hang-gliding, he came within inches of certain-death. The now-infamous video of him taking off without being strapped in has been viewed millions of times. 

Last week, Gursky decided to try again. He took off from the exact same hill in Switzerland, where things went so wrong the first time.     

“They were double-checking me, triple checking me, just lining up to go at the same launch point as last time that’s when the butterflies started kicking in,” Gurksy told FOX 13.

Under a new company this time around, Gursky soared.

“When I took the flight this time it felt like a weight was lifted, it was something I didn't have to do but I wanted to do a big relief for me,” he said. “It is just like flying you don’t hear anything but the wind your way up there and the view is spectacular,” he added.

After 10 minutes, Gursky and the pilot safely touched down.

”It’s been a bad experience but it’s ended up being a really cool experience and it has a happy ending,” he said. “If you're scared about something don’t let that stop you if something's cool and you think you want to do I say try it,” he said.

Gursky says he plans to take lessons, and one day would like to perform a solo flight.