DNV firefighters rescue a paraglider from a tree near Cleveland Park.
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Published: September 01, 2008 7:00 PMUpdated: September 02, 2008 10:35 AM
A paraglider crash-landed in Grouse Woods on Monday after misjudging his landing approach at a nearby playing field.
The pilot, a visitor from Portland, Ore., in his 30s, was not seriously injured during the mishap that left him dangling from a tree 30 feet above the ground in the residential neighbourhood. DNV fire crews using a ladder truck managed to pluck the pilot from a strand of tall trees shortly after receiving a 911 call at around 5 p.m.
Bill Nikolai, a member of the Grouse Mountain Flying Team (GMFT), launched his paraglider from Grouse Mountain shortly after the U.S. pilot, who had apparently made a successful flight from the North Shore Mountain on Sunday.
"[He] misjudged the approach; he came in a little too low. [It was] just an error in judgment," he explained.
Paragliders launching from Grouse Mountain must either be GMFT members or guests, who are required to fly with a GMFT pilot.
Nikolai, who doesn't recall a crash-landing incident during the eight years he's been flying, says pilot precision is required when landing at Cleveland Park.
"You have to be spot on [during] your approach - it's the only landing option."
And while crashes aren't common, he added: "It's aviation: so the potential is always there."
Brenda Slay was watching TV when she heard a loud crash in the trees adjacent to her front yard on Monday. She dialed 911 while her husband Craig grabbed a ladder to see if he could reach the downed pilot whose red-and-white glider was tangled in the trees. He couldn't reach the man but spoke to him until rescue crews arrived. "He knew he wasn't going to make [the landing] and picked his [crash] spot."
Craig Slay says this is the fourth crash in Grouse Woods that he can remember in the past seven years.
"See the gaps [in the trees]," he said pointing across the street. "A hangglider took [them] out."
