[with video] Blanc Nez, France (GenevaLunch) – Jacques-Olivier Travers and his famous eagle Sherkan were to fly across the English Channel, leaving from the Cap Blanc Nez in France and heading for Dover, but the bird had a case of cold feet and went straight back to France Tuesday 21 July.

Travers jumped from a helicopter headed for Dover, at 13,000 feet and an hour later he had paraglided across the Channel, becoming the first person to do so. Sherkan, a bird raised in captivity that Travers has trained to fly, refused to leave his cage in the helicopter, was finally forced out by his bird handlers – and he headed in the opposite direction from the route parallel to Travers that had been planned.

The two have previously flown together, most notably taking off from Mont Blanc in October 2008.

Travers owns a bird farm in Sciez, Haute Savoie, France, near Thonons-les-bain and not far from Geneva, which is open to visitors. He and his team care for Alpine birds of prey who have been or are in captivity. Part of the project involves teaching them to fly.

Related:

• Telegraph, UK
• story of Sherkan’s 2008 Mont Blanc flight, Les Aigles du Léman site

Video, Sherkan’s 2008 Mont Blanc flight

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