RC India

http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=62&contentid=2011102920111029060417762a99d7648

  Sir,
  My condolences for the bereaved family.Very sorry to know this, when did this accident happen.
  Feel sorry for the young one.
     HHnarayanrao KNS

It is indeed a sad incidence. A sea of new instructors and part over jubilant adventurist are adding to such incidance (with numerous death in the Indian trekking circle, hardly all reported to press).

The paragliding group from IITR I was leading in 2003 had close shave with similar incidence when one of participant started pulling the opposite side control lines when instructed by the trainer over the radio. It was the sheer intelligence of trainer Manish Joshi, who due to his trainer-specific training in Austria, realized that the guy was following instruction in 'Inverse' and started giving instruction in reverse. The guy glider was already in Pendulum motion, and was on the brink of a similar canopy collapse, which killed the lady.

There are many unprofessional Paragliding training camps dotted around Pune, Manali, Solan etc. Please do a double check of their track record. Many of them dont even report any incidence as long as they are non-lethal. The injuries could be severe like to backbone, rib cage fracture, broken limbs, etc which are great personal agony and you might have to live with after effects all your life.

Yes,
My friend Amitava Akuli was injured badly earlier during parachuting (Launch by pooling by jeep ) while a sudden thrust of air in reverse side took down him due to gravity and he got 3 rib fracture. This is a minor injury as the height was only 22 feet. This wass happened during his training in NCC under 4 Bengal Air squadron of Jadavpur University. So, no-one can be blamed.

Risk is everywhere; so, only feeling sorry and hope bereaved family realizes that it was only a accident.

hi,

It is really sad that it has happened in pune. my condolences to the family.

I have myself done about 12 flights on a paraglider and believe me i very much trust Wings and Flights. their safety record is fantastic and i personally know eric menenzes and mangesh dighe who were my instructors and they are very experienced in their field.

They have set their processes and follow all safety measures. accidents happen only due to pilot errors.
i have witnessed a few incidents when doing paraglidng the students freeze while landing and give wrong inputs leading to minor accidents.

take for example rc models if a student gets confused with the controls  sticks and gives wrong inputs the model is sure to spiral down.

I was there at the time of accident on the ground but in the middle. the paragliding happens at the end of the runway. we could see the paragliders gliding down but never realized that sombody had fallen as we were busy with our own model flying activity.

my request to all that pls do not lengthen a topic like this as it will not bring the dead alive. infact learn from it and move ahead.

we humans believe in fate and destiny then why call this incident as a accident.

thanks

The report said that the lady was on her 3rd sortie in just two days!!!! I remember our Paraliding Camp was a full 7 days affair, with 2 entire days of ground training. The instructor's helper pulling us with our harness and we trying to maintain the canopy inflated on a gently slope. This gave us good amount of idea how the aerofoil behaves as most of us had collapsed canopy times a many - thanks all the time we were on the ground.

The organizers should avoid such '2 - Minute Noodle' kind of Fast Food Adventure . Paragliding is a skilled adventures, and organizers should not customize the program to suite hurrying adventurists.

I suggest you check the credentials of organizer before making such loose comments.

I know Eric and Mangesh personally and they have immense experience in flying and teaching. I have been into this sport since 2006 and have flown with Eric on several occasion. Eric and Mangesh are one of the best PPG pilots in India.

Paragliding is an adventure sport and accident do happen. We all feel sorry about what has happened.



Hiren

PS - I am not associated/connected with organizers


  

I'm getting news that spouse of the lady has sued Wings and Flights. All authorities have washed their hands off which has left Wings and Flights cornered and a ban on all activities at the gliding center. This also includes ban on all PAA RC activities. flying any kind of models at the gliding center is strictly forbidden now, this includes Kites too.
ps: do correct me if wrong.

That's again a bad precedence.  I still maintain that there were mistakes on both the sides. The lady did not understand that going Solo is not like a ride in a theme park. On the Wing and Flight part (not matter how much high regards Mr FlyingBaba has for them) should not have cut short the training and acclimatization session.


"Adventure is Controlled Fear" - Anonymous
"We don't want soldiers shed all their Fear - it keeps them alive to fight another day" - Some war General.

Expressing condolences for the loss is fine.
Kindly do not give opinions and pass judgments on paragliding in this forum.  Do so on the paraglidingforum.in the paragliding community will either benefit from your knowledge or give a befitting response.
It is seen that this news item does not just figure here but has been dragged onto another thread as well. ??? In a bid to settle scores the larger interests of the Paragliding and Aeromodelling community should not be trampled upon.
Regards,
Himanshu

Hi Sil, Welcome to RCIndia.

what made you come to this conclusion? who is settling scores with whom and in what interest?

In this case, the poor Pune aeromodelers, with NO 'Commercial' interest bear the burnt of collateral damage due to a commercial activity.

Short answers first (a) This news item has been dragged onto the thread on Aeromodeling Federation, read through and you will understand why. (b) Yes commercial activity has hurt the Paragliding and the Aeromodeling community all over I don’t think Pune is the exception.
As this topic is likely to stay on I think I should put forth some views. I have been flying paragliders and paramotors at Pune for the past few years; I am a DIY guy and have built my own paramotor and wooden props earlier but now fly certified imported equipment.  Hadapsar has been my base for the past couple of years where I used to fly my PPG trike, I operate as a one man team – my trike, my wing and me. I have spent a fortune on the sport and not earned a paisa. I built my first aeromodel maybe 48 years ago but have been in and out of the hobby. I reentered the hobby over 2 years ago and became a member of this forum but never posted, only the models I built figure the last one being a scratch built model I call KUBET under the Sig Kadet kit bashing thread.
Because of this news item the Aero-sports community of Hadapsar has suffered because of comments being made with inadequate knowledge. This article itself shows as to how even the police investigating into the accident do not know the difference between a RC Model and a Paraglider, they attribute the crash due to the wrong remote button being pressed!
The world over PG and PPG is a self regulated adventure sport and the equipment is not subjected to any airworthiness certification. Despite being told PG does not fall under the DGCA in a display of journalistic upmanship the reporter tried to corner the DGCA officials higher up. In a typical bureaucratic backlash paragliding and aeromodeling was stopped. You can now play cricket or race your bike on the runway but not fly an aeromodel.
The Aircraft Rules say that a microlight needs a permit to fly however the definition of microlights excludes hang gliders and para-planes. As there are no specific regulations for PG and PPGs one should follow international norms, google Federal Aircraft Regulations Part 103 if you want to know more.
As regards training the standards followed by the British or US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association are ideal. Hence if one does not know what one wants one is unlikely to get it.
PG and PPG is an adventure sport and one joins at one’s own risk. If I have broken my legs, elbow and wrist and undergone 4 major surgeries but still want to fly can I blame someone else.
I am interested that there is no unwanted aspersions cast on the flying community of Hadapsar. I have no vested interests but am a loser on two counts, first as a PPG flyer and second as an aeromodeler. As a retired guy I have all the time to pursue my childhood dreams.

Thank you, Sil. Out of this might come more understanding by all.  All incidents are requested to be reported to World ParaGliding Association.
Elizabeth Joseph (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Elizabeth+Joseph%22+paraglider&sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS434&oq=%22Elizabeth+Joseph%22+paraglider&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=16901l20131l0l20335l11l10l0l6l0l0l266l767l1.1.2l4l0)