A 47 year old Bulgarian paraglider pilot was killed on Sunday (25th October) in an accident near Rising Star Peak in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, after a search and rescue operation and a 63 year old British pilot was found alive after a night search in heavy wind and changing weather conditions.
The victim was identified as Maksim Valentinovich Gavrilichenko, a Bulgarian national. He arrived in India on a tourist visa on October 7. The rescued pilot was Stephen Antony Purdie, a British citizen.
They had taken off separately from Bir Billing Paragliding site before their flights ended in accidents near Rising Star Peak (Yol area of Dharamshala). According to police, the information about the incident was received between 3 pm and 3.30 pm yesterday.
It was based on a preliminary report that strong wind and air pressure conditions forced Gavrilichenko to lose control of his paraglider. The accident remains under investigation.
After the incident, local police and district officials organized a search and rescue operation with the State Disaster Response Force and Him Sanchar rescue team.
Rescue personnel started to move to the remote accident site at 9 pm on Sunday. The search continued overnight in the fog of mountain terrain, and the difficulties of finding and bringing the pilots to safety.
The search was completed at 10 am on Monday, October 26. Gavrilichenko was found dead and Purdie was found and brought to safety. The body of the pilot was taken to the Zonal Hospital in Dharamshala for post mortem examination.
The necessary legal processes have been completed and the details of the accident will be revealed as the investigation progresses, the police said today (26 October). Kangra Superintendent of Police Kulbhushan Verma said preliminary information indicated strong winds and air pressure were factors that led the Bulgarian pilot's paraglider to get out of control for a few minutes. Solo Paragliding Suspended Until October 28.
With the death of the pilot and several other paragliding accidents in the area since then, the Kangra district administration has decided to stop paragliding at Bir Billing until October 28. The suspension order was issued by Baijnath Sub Divisional Magistrate Sankalp Gautam as a pre-emptive measure.
They cited strong winds, rainfall, poor visibility, cloud cover and sudden changes in weather as serious threats to pilot safety. Tandem paragliding flights are allowed to go ahead under approved and qualified operators under favourable weather conditions.
The pilots are also instructed to check the weather conditions before every flight and avoid takeoffs if strong winds, rain or poor visibility makes flying unsafe. Paragliding marshals will be assigned to enforcement of solo flights and monitoring tandem operations.
The operators and pilots must strictly adhere to safety standards and weather advice from the authorities and pilots, they say, as well as weather warnings.
The company said the restrictions have led to criticism from foreign pilots who had come to the area for paragliding. But the administration has said it is to reduce risks and weather is not favourable enough to fly during such conditions.
Other recent incidents Raise Safety Concerns
There have also been several other rescue operations in the Dhauladhar mountain region where the man died in a tragedy. The rescue of two foreign paragliders from Austria and Poland who were stranded at high altitudes was also successful.
Also, an Indian solo paraglider was saved after landing on an emergency landing. There are now fears of flight safety in the mountainous region as the wind and cloud cover and the terrain can be bad for flying and rescue operations.
Bir Billing is one of the most popular paragliding places in Himachal Pradesh and is popular with pilots and tourists from India and abroad.
Police are still investigating Gavrilichenko’s death. The cause of the accident is still not clear and will be determined after an investigation and post mortem examination.
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