A Celebration Gone Wrong

A European pilot lost his life paragliding today. I do not know his name or exact nationality. I will say what I know, but will not claim it to be fact as I would not want to dishonour him by recounting events that happened differently. Although the circumstances surrounding his death seem fairly certain, there is always a chance that things aren't the way them seem.

This pilot was experienced and in celebration of his 200th flight here in Pokhara, he decided to jump from his glider into the lake. Unfortunately he jumped from too high (20 meters) and hit the water chest first and did not surface. His harness attached to his wing slowly floated away, but he was nowhere to be found.

I didn't see it happen, but was there when the chaos ensued trying to find this man. An ambulance never arrived (perhaps someone canceled it?), and the police were slow to show up. Some efforts on the part of the locals were made to locate the pilot, but it was more that fellow pilots jumped into the lake with snorkels and fins, or grabbed kayaks and other boats, in a race against time to find him. The murky waters made things difficult, and they returned to shore empty-handed.

The local officials are presently trying to recover his body with a couple of row boats with barbed wire stringed between them to scrape the bottom of the lake. It sounds barbaric, but organizing a dive team does not seem like a possibility out here.

I am saddened by the loss of a fellow pilot and I offer my sincerest condolences to his family and friends, some of whom witnessed the event.

This morning I went parahawking and although the flight was amazing, I will write about things in my next post as I don't feel it's appropriate here. I hope I do not offend anybody by writing about today's events, but I feel that it would be more disrespectful not to write about them at all.

Rest in peace fellow pilot.