On May 24, 2004, a group of climbers on the northeast side of Mount Everest were surprised by a flying object right over their heads. It was the hang glider pilot Angelo D'Arrigo during a flight that would set a new precedent for hang gliding worldwide. The first time in History that a man flew over Everest with his hang glider.

His adventure was filmed in the documentary ?Flying Over Everest? in which D'Arrigo chronicles a key moment: "South of Everest and close to the peak, we ran into a gigantic area of rotor turbulence, which dragged the microlight violently downwards, projecting me in the hang glider upwards at the same time".

However, the turbulence stopped and D'Arrigo was able to fly on over the mountains: "We were at a height of about 9000 meters; I was 500 meters south of Everest, about 150 meters over the peak... This was the moment, flying over Everest! I had succeeded in the attempt to fly my hang glider over the highest mountain in the world."

"The flight was extraordinary, - said D'Arrigo later - I took off from the Khumbu Valley and flew over [the peaks of] Namche, Amadablam, Nuptse and Lotse until I reached Everest, where I saw the Italian expedition climbing the northeast peak, and they saw me too".

Angelo D'Arrigo, the man who crossed the Sahara and Siberia with his hang glider, died in an accident during an airshow at Comiso, Italy, in March 2006. A small Sky Arrow plane, in which he was a passenger, fell 200 meters to the ground. He was 44.

Thanks Loretxoa! :-)

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