Violation of paragliding rules to blame for fatal mishaps

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, March 9

The death of two persons, a Ghaziabad tourist Akash Aggarwal and co-pilot Rakesh Kumar, in a paragliding mishap at Billing yesterday has raised a question mark on the safety of hundreds of tourists visiting Billing. Both were killed when a paraglider crashed last evening.

Several persons have lost their lives in paragliding mishaps so far. State agencies that are responsible for the implementation of paragliding rules are under the scanner. There is a complete ban on flying after 4.30 pm because of low temperature, however, one can see dozens of paragliders till late evening.

The Tribune correspondent today visited Bir-Billing. It was revealed that the pilot, who took off from Billing yesterday, had not enough experience. Besides, he planned to take off from Billing at 4.30 pm when the temperature was low with poor thermal. It not advisable to fly in such conditions.

A number of travel agents at Bir told The Tribune that the government had failed to put in place a safety mechanism that had made paragliding a risky affair. The government should either implement the rules or ban paragliding.

“Though the Tourism Department is responsible for the implementation of rules, hardly any official is ever seen at Billing. Most pilots are using outdated paragliding equipment, leading to fatal mishaps. No regular inspection of documents of pilots and their gliders are carried out,” said sources.

In November, Sandeep Chaudhry of Nagrota was killed in a tandem flight when his safety harness and body belts had loosened in the air.

SDM, Baijnath, Salem Aazam and district tourism officer PP Singh had announced to enforce the international norms laid down for the paragliding. However, in the past four months, not even a single meeting was held with the stakeholders for their implementation.

Those died in 2 years

• In Feb 2020, 24-year-old Akshya and co-pilot Shyam Lal were killed when their glider crashed near Barot
• A Canadian pilot was killed when his paraglider crash-landed near Bir. He had no knowledge of Dhauladhars’ topography
• In 2021, Rohit Badhoria, Delhi-based pilot, went missing. His body was recovered after seven months from snow-covered peaks
• In November, Sandeep Chaudhry died when his harness and body belts had loosened in the air

No respect for norms

There is a ban on flying after 4.30 pm because of low temperature and poor thermal, however, one can see dozens of paragliders in the air till late evening

#paragliding