Paraglider pilot was ‘hugging slopes’

A 40-year-old Australian paraglider killed in a crash on Treble Cone yesterday was a solo speed flyer hugging a course very close to the rocky mountain’s slopes, a witness said.

LANDSAR Wanaka secretary and LANDSAR national chairman Phil Melchoir yesterday said the fatal high-speed crash occurred about noon after the man had taken off from Pub Corner, a popular paraglider launch site on the Treble Cone skifield access road.

Other paragliders were the first on the scene. After landing at the crash site they raised the alarm and administered CPR.

‘‘He was unconscious and had suffered significant impact injuries, and by the time an ambulance arrived about 40 minutes later he was clearly dead,’’ Mr Melchior said.

A commercial pilot who was flying in the area at the time said the man was hugging a course very close to the mountain and flying at high speeds. Speed flyers can reach 100kmh. Mr Melchoir described speed gliding as an offshoot of paragliding that was carried out on a wing about half the size as a normal paragliding wing.

‘‘It is a sport which is considered to be at a similar risk level to base jumping, but this man was a very experienced speed wing pilot, who had been living in Wanaka,’’ Mr Melchior said.

Police were to contact the man’s family before they would release his name. The death had been referred to Otago-southland Coroner David Crerar.

‘‘We cannot say whether the body has gone to Dunedin yet, but if it hasn’t already, it will happen,’’ Mr Melchior said.