Experienced paraglider fell to his death after encountering difficulties

A PARAGLIDER died after he encountered difficulties while attempting to land during a routine flight in the Derbyshire Peak District, an inquest heard.

Timothy Ogden, 53, was forced into an “unrecoverable spin” around 200ft above Windy Knoll, near Mam Tor. Walkers in the area ran to his aid and began performing CPR before emergency serves arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene having sustained severe chest injuries. The inquest into Mr Ogden’s death at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court heard he had around 300 hours of experience as a pilot and was a coach for Derbyshire Soaring Club.

On August 14, 2020, Mr Ogden and two fellow pilots took off from Treak Cliff, Castleton, after completing the usual pre-flight checks. Guy Richardson, one of the men accompanying Mr Ogden and a coach himself, claimed the winds rose to around 30mph after take-off.

In a statement read to the court, Mr Richardson described the conditions as “right at the top end of an enjoyable flight.”

As the wind became more and more unfavourable, Mr Richardson made the decision to land at Windy Knoll, but a change in wind direction meant the landing was turbulent, but he was able to regain control.

He attempted to use a radio on a dedicated frequency to advise the others not to land at Windy Knoll. However, it was later found Mr Ogden was not carrying his radio.

As Mr Ogden, who lived in

Sheffield, turned into the wind preparing to land, part of his parachute collapsed and was sent into an uncontrollable spin.

He deployed his reserve parachute, but by this point he was falling at terminal velocity and it did not have time to properly inflate.

Matthew Kewley, assistant coroner, said Mr Ogden’s death was the result of a “tragic accident”.