A Belgian paraglider tragically lost his life after colliding mid-air with another paraglider in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, just five days before the Paragliding World Cup 2024 set to take place in Bir-Billing. The victim, Feyarets, a seasoned free-flying paraglider in his sixties, had traveled to Bir-Billing to practice for the upcoming competition.
The incident occurred on Tuesday when both paragliders took off separately but collided mid-air. Feyarets crashed into a forested area, while the other paraglider became entangled in trees and sustained injuries. Fortunately, the injured paraglider was rescued afterward. As of now, Feyarets’s body has yet to be recovered from the forest.
This accident comes on the heels of another tragic incident on October 23, 2023, when Polish paraglider Andrez died during a solo flight from Bir-Billing. Avinash Negi, Director of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) in Manali, highlighted the urgent need for improved safety measures in adventure sports, particularly paragliding. Negi mentioned that a proposal is underway to install special towers in high mountain areas to help pinpoint crash sites in emergencies.
Although paragliders utilize devices to send distress and crash alerts, experts note that the GPS-enabled systems often provide imprecise location data (within 50-100 meters), complicating rescue operations. The upcoming World Cup is set to feature around 130 paragliders from 50 countries, scheduled from November 2 to 9 in Bir-Billing.
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