I'm the Luckiest Person on Earth...

Oh my goodness, what a day.

I woke up to what I thought were flyable conditions, but in fact, were not. We all had our last breakfast together, after which those who had to leave for their flights started making their way to the airport.

I suggested to Tom that we go shopping for a bit in Arricife, so off we went. Travelers tip: before driving around a foreign city of any size, bring a map! We ended up getting lost, and not having time to shop at all. I did get to drive the car through the city for a bit though, so that ended up being helpful stick-shift practice.

We then stopped off at the staff’s villa, at which point I was the only pilot left. We drove to a flying site, checked out the wind (too strong), and decided we would return later. Meanwhile we would all go shopping – this second attempt turned out to be much better.

After shopping we had lunch, and headed back to launch. This time, the conditions were just right – soarable! I launched, soared for about 40 minutes or so with the help of John on the radio, and then, well, things started to go awry...

I started heading along the ridge where it dropped off, and where I couldn’t find any lift. John was trying to help me find some, but by that time, I had already left the lift band along the ridge. At that point I knew I’d have to land at the bottom of the ridge, but not in the landing zone, as the distance was just too much. At this point Vicki (also an instructor) was also in the air, and tried catching up to me. She was telling me all sorts of things on the radio, but I just couldn’t hear her through all the interference.

I started getting lower and lower to the ground, and started mentally preparing myself for landing. I saw, what I thought was a radio tower on my right side, when I suddenly came to a halt, heard my glider crumple, and I started sliding down – I hit a set of power lines.

The second I hit them and realized what they were, I thought I would die. In that split second, I expected to be electrocuted. My thoughts at that point were “I’m okay with this”. I then slid down the lines, and landed on my butt. My airbag harness was definitely put to the test, and it probably saved me a back injury. After landing on my butt, I kinda rolled to my right where I hit my knee on the hard ground – nothing serious, just some bruising…I was lucky.

When I landed, I actually started to laugh – nervous reaction I guess. I radioed back to tell Vicki and John I was okay, and I just sat there, shocked and disappointed with myself, but extremely thankful to be alive. I got away with this one with a few bruises and scratches – God loved me today.

Vicki then landed her glider a bit aways from me, and said there was a flash when I hit the lines…my glider seems okay though – go Apco! Folding it though did result in some sparks though – I think my reserve should be repacked, just in case there’s a charge.

I just about died today – I was SO close. 20 metres from where I landed was a deep gully. Had I hit the power lines there, I would have fallen who knows how far down. 10 feet or so to the right of where I landed was a bunch of cactus – I landed on a spot that was completely bare.

I didn’t cry until John gave me a hug – hugs tend to make me cry. I’m so thankful to be alive and to be given more chances to fly.

This trip didn’t end the way I wanted it to, but I’ve learned some important lessons – I certainly vow to never make the same mistake again.

My message to fellow paragliding pilots: please be careful when you fly.