Saturday, July 23, 2011
PG accident - The Cove, Central UT July, 22
A beginner paraglider pilot launched late in the evening and did not glide easily to the landing area. The pilot encountered turbulence in a lee side area and experienced subsequent deflations and oscillations resulting in s crash. The pilot was taken to the hospital via helicopter with back and rib injuries. Always fly with a guide at new sites preferably an instructor or team of instructors that will insure your healthy launch-flight-landing via radio guidance. Use extreme caution when flying sites that are characterized by long and sometimes impossible glides to the landing area + other pitfalls ( dicey launch, no landing area... )
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That evening there were three P2 pilots (myself included) and scores of comp and experienced pilots. Conditions were P3/P4 and they all launched. I stated that it did not look like P2 conditions and at the time and chose not to launch.
ReplyDeleteThe Site Guide met with the three P2 pilots and advised that we should wait, and that the conditions would mellow to P2 conditions. They did.
The site guide met with the three of us and gave us a comprehensive site evaluation as well as specific instructions to have a safe P2 flight. He specifically stated "If you do not get up off launch, immediately head out to the LZ". He then advised of the specific flight path to follow, which the accident pilot did not follow. These instructions also addressed the areas to avoid.
When cleared by the Site Guide, I launched, made good choices and quickly was about 700 feet over the launch. As the sun was starting to set, I chose to fly my DHV-1 (EN-A) towards the LZ as instructed. Shortly thereafter we heard on the radio that a pilot was down and not moving. The ground rescue efforts took about four hours, finishing about 1:00 AM.
CONCLUSIONS:
As a P2, you are compelled to follow the instructions and recommendations of the site guide or your mentor.
As a P2, it is quite important to be in radio contact with a mentor or the site guide. It is another safety tool in your favor. If you experience a problem, contact your support team and get in the air advice if conditions make it possible to do so.
All pilots need to have "out landing" safety gear with them at all times. Finding a pilot at a Utah Mountain Site at night is very difficult. Having Out-Landing Safety Gear (such as a head lamp with flashing strobe, cell phone, radio, first aid kit) would have greatly facilitated the rescue effort.
Had this out of state P2 done so, we all would probably have had a much more enjoyable evening.
LZ John
(John Russell, P2 H4, Observer, Tow Administrator, etc.)
(posted by "Sandy" for John)