Thomas Rieu was enjoying a tranquil Saturday, soaring with his paraglider over the French Alps, when something whacked him on the back of the head, reports The Times.
He felt pain as talons drilled through his helmet. Thus began a 13-minute struggle between Rieu, a 34-year-old engineer, and a golden eagle bent on killing him.
Birds of prey sometimes try to drive off humans who intrude in their airspace under the ultra-light fabric craft that has become popular in recent decades.
They can make aggressive passes at the wings of paragliders, hang gliders and microlight aircraft but there are few reports of assaults on pilots. Rieu had never heard of anything as ferocious as the big adult eagle that locked its claws into him after its surprise dive from the rear.
The bird struck at 1,900m above sea level as he and two others were climbing in the early afternoon in a rising air current by the Dent du Villard, the 2,284m peak that looms over the resort of Courchevel.
They had been in the air for 45 minutes. “I didn’t see anything. He just hit me on the head from behind and jammed in his talons, cutting through the helmet and into my scalp,” Rieu told The Times. “I struggled first with my arms. He then locked on to my right-hand glove. That caused the biggest wounds. The talons are pretty big, digging into my hand and wrist at the same time.”