Four people, including 2 tourists, have a narrow escape as para gliders get stuck in trees in Bir

Ravinder Sood
Palampur, September 21

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Four persons, including two tourists had a narrow escape and survived a crash when their para gliders got stuck in trees near Bir, thirty kilometres from Palampur, Monday evening.

Reports reaching here said that both the para gliders took off from Billing in tandem flights along with two tourists. Within few minutes of taking off, both the pilots carrying the tourists lost their route because of bad weather and high-velocity wind. Since both the pilots were quite experienced they tried to land at a safer place but were caught in trees.

Eyewitnesses said they did not get the thermals (warm wind that lifts the para gliders upwards) due to bad weather. Both the para gliders took a plunge soon after the take-off and were stuck on top of the trees. However, there were no power transmission lines nearby which averted the big tragedy.

Later both pilots contacted the ground rescue teams through mobile phones which immediately reached the spot and rescued all four persons.

SDM Baijnath Sleem Azam also reached the spot with the police team and shifted all the injured to civil hospital Baijnath where all were stated to be out of danger.

It may be recalled that due to the failure of the state government for not putting in place a robust safety mechanism, paragliding has become a risky affair in Billing.

In Billing last year, Rohit Badhoria, a Delhi-based pilot, died when his glider crash-landed in the high mountains of Dhauladhar hills.

Singaporean pilot Kok Chang had died in 2019 after his para glider crash-landed near Jalsu pass after he took off from Billing. His body was spotted by the rescue team trapped in dense forests.

Besides two foreign pilots, a Russian and a Latvian, sustained serious injuries when their gliders crashed near Jhatingari in Mandi district and in Bundla hills of Palampur. Both the pilots had taken off from Billing. However, another missing pilot, Jostewis, was lifted by rescue operation from high mountains.