Hang glider clings on for dear life after instructor forgets to attach safety harness

A first-time hang glider lived to tell a harrowing story about how an instructor in Switzerland forgot to attach his safety harness to the glider before leaping off a cliff side.

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What followed was a horror-filled two minutes and 14 seconds for American tourist Chris Gursky from Florida, who desperately clung to the glider’s bar and the instructor, trying not to fall to his death.

"My first time hang gliding turned into a near death experience as my safety harness was never hooked to the glider," Gursky said under a post of the terrifying video of his ordeal on YouTube.

The video shows his struggle to cling to the glider as it climbed over the countryside.

"I was just trying to stay calm, just trying to hang on for dear life," Gursky told ABC News.

"I looked down once and I thought to myself, 'This is it. I'm going to fall to my death. I'm a goner,'" he said. "I didn't have much grip left in me at all. My hand was opening, I was slipping. I had his pant leg, that was about it."

But Gursky managed to hang on.

The pilot was able to bring the glider down, although Gursky said they were going about 45 mph when they hit the ground.

“The landing was a rough one, but I lived to tell the story,” he said.

He suffered a broken wrist and a torn bicep, and despite his injuries, he said he’d like to try hang gliding again.

Cox Media Group