What is the highest flying vulture?

The altitude record is held by a Rüppell's griffon Gyps rueppelli, a vulture with a 10-foot wingspan. On November 29, 1975 one was sucked into a jet engine 37,900 feet above the Ivory Coast in West Africa. The plane was damaged but landed safely. What the bird was doing up so high I have no idea, since this species is not migratory. Rüppell's Vulture is a medium-sized vulture that occurs throughout the Sahel region of central Africa.