Paragliders seconds from mid-air collision disaster
‘It was amazing to see all the emergency services in action and working together’
Two paragliders who collided in mid-air managed to disentangle seconds before they hit the ground, The Banner can reveal.
One of them, a 27-yearold man, remains in hospital with spinal injuries after he crashed into a cliff face and was knocked unconscious.
But he had back protection and high impact padding on his harness which prevented the injuries from being more severe.
The other man, aged 34, had a lucky escape when he fell heavily on heather, but if they had landed together their injuries could have been much worse.
He immediately scrambled to the aid of the injured pilot who was suspended above a cliff on steep unstable ground in Glen Catacol. He held him in place to stop him slipping further down the mountainside.
However, their precarious position meant that when the search and rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet arrived, they could not just lower a winch man down as the downdraft from the helicopter could have re-inflated the canopy and may have caused further injuries to the pilot as well as being a risk to the helicopter.
Instead, they collected the Arran Mountain Rescue Team (AMRT) and dropped them off at the top of the cliff above the paraglider.
Due to the nature of injuries and the exposed position of the pilots on the cragg, a technical rope-work rescue was conducted to secure both men before Rescue 177 could uplift them to safety.
Police and the Scottish Air Ambulance service also attended the scene during the high-risk five-hour mission.
The man was brought to safety at around 8.30pm and was flown to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow where he remained in a stable condition, as we went to press.
Ryan Gray, of Belfast Coastguard, who co-ordinated the operation said it had been a ‘difficult multi-agency job’.
A spokeswoman for the AMRT said: ‘A massive thank you to Rescue 177 and EMRS Scotland for their valuable help and also to the
very kind people of Catacol for providing hot tea/coffee and snacks after we all got off the hill.’
Earlier, the weather had been perfect for paragliding and a number of pilots had been enjoying the conditions soaring above the hills of Catacol. The Arran paragliding school, Flying Fever, was out teaching at the same site and other visiting pilots came over to the island to enjoy flying the mountains. The accident happened towards the end of the day when two qualified pilots collided in mid air. They were flying independently of the school.
Both pilots were newlyqualified to Club Pilot rating this season with the British Hang-gliding and Paragliding
Association and had learnt to fly on Arran over the last two years.
Leading instructor, Zabdi Keen, who runs Flying Fever said: ‘The pilots both have low experience and when you are flying you have to maintain constant vigilance to avoid other pilots. You always have to look before you turn and scan the skies to be aware of the changing position of other pilots. Both pilots had been flying all day and tiredness may have contributed to the accident taking place.
‘They didn’t see each other until too late and the collision happened.
‘We have spoken to the pilot who is still undergoing observation in hospital to determine the extent of his injuries and he is very positive and both pilots would like to say a big thank you to all the rescue services and all people involved including the residents of Catacol.
‘We live in an incredible country where living on a small island we have emergency services that have such a high level of skill and training and such good resources with volunteers.
‘It was amazing to see all the emergency services in action and working together.
‘Thanks very much from all the paragliding community in Arran,’ Zabdi added.