A paraglider got more adventure than he bargained for after he and his canopy collapsed in San Bernardino in a caught-on-camera moment.
Fifty-two-year-old Paul Mattson said he had been gliding for about two hours April 2 near Crestline, at times reaching 9,000 feet, when something went dangerously awry.
The thrill-seeker was 60 feet in the air when he launched himself down to a landing zone behind Cal State San Bernardino and was caught in a whirlwind of dust, known as a dust devil, that sent him hurtling toward the ground. Onlookers near the landing area captured the crash on cell phone video.
Mattson, who suffered a broken back and leg, said he's far from giving up on his passion despite his injuries.
"This is my thing in life. I'm not going to let this stop me from doing it," he said.
Mattson, who has been paragliding for more than three years, is part of the Crestline Soaring Society, a nonprofit group that paraglides and hang glides regularly in the San Bernardino Mountains.
He said after a full recovery, he expects to be up in the air again by the summer.
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"I'm sure it's going to be a little hairy the first few times," he said.
