Russian Pilot Evakin Alexei Rescued From 33-kV Himachal Power Lines After 2.5-Hour Ordeal

The flight went wrong in seconds. Evakin Alexei, a 48-year-old Russian paraglider, found himself trapped 150 metres in the air after his glider drifted off course and snared in high-tension cables along the Pathankot-Mandi highway on November 10. For two-and-a-half hours, he hung suspended between life and death. One misstep meant electrocution or a lethal plunge onto the tarmac below.

Alexei launched his solo flight from the world-renowned paragliding hub of Bir-Billing in Kangra district. But shifting crosswinds pushed him miles off his designated flight envelope. His canopy struck live 33-kV transmission cables running past Tandu village, close to Mehar in neighbouring Mandi district. The lines held the glider fast, leaving the pilot pinned hundreds of feet above ground with zero room to manoeuvre.

Peril on the 33-kV Transmission Grid

Alexei kept his nerve. Instead of struggling against the snag, he reached for his phone, snapped high-resolution photographs of the surrounding terrain and transmission poles, and beamed them directly to the Bir Billing Paragliding Association. Fellow gliders and village residents who spotted the suspended parachute immediately phoned emergency lines.

State authorities scrambled. The first priority was absolute power isolation: engineers killed the electricity supply to the 33-kV transmission grid across the valley, eliminating the immediate risk of electrocution. Mandi Sub-Divisional Magistrate administration officials rushed to the coordinates, but standard fire tenders and rescue ladders proved entirely useless against the 150-metre void. Ordinary gear could not reach him.

Mobilizing the 146-Metre Construction Crane

Emergency planners adapted rapidly. Officials requisitioned a massive 146-metre hydraulic crane operating at a nearby four-lane highway construction project and guided the rig toward Mehar. Police halted all heavy transport along the Pathankot-Mandi highway, opening a sterile operations corridor for the machinery. Down below, local villagers and first responders spread thick layers of mattresses and heavy tarpaulins across the roadway as a desperate fallback buffer.

The crane swung into position. A member of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) stepped into the hoisted metal basket alongside an industrial crane technician. The mechanical arm extended upward through the valley air, inching toward the tangle of cables where Alexei hung motionless. Working carefully against the tensioned rigging, the rescue crew cut the canopy clear, secured the Russian pilot, and lowered him to the ground after a harrowing 150-minute suspension.

Ambulance crews ferried Alexei directly to the Zonal Hospital in Mandi for immediate triage and orthopaedic screening. Attending physicians confirmed he miraculously avoided major fractures or severe blunt-force trauma.

The Debate Over Kangra Flight Corridors

Video footage of the rescue circulating across digital platforms ignited fresh friction over adventure sports regulation throughout Himachal Pradesh. Critics argue that unchecked commercial and amateur gliding corridors routinely intersect with unshielded transmission networks, demanding clear hazard beacons and mandatory GPS-tracked boundaries along the Bir-Billing down-valley trajectory. Advocates and local pilots pushed back, noting that rugged Himalayan topography makes transmission lines an unavoidable reality across mountain flight zones worldwide.

Mandi district officials and aviation oversight committees are reviewing flight path records from Bir-Billing to verify how Alexei drifted into the Mehar high-tension corridor, while utility operators continue structural safety inspections along the affected 33-kV transmission line.