Return to the incident list: Incident List Water Landing/Drowning PPG Type: Type of Injury:

Pilot Details

Age: 45 Weight: 230 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: Sting Size: Paramotor Frame: Fly Power Gold 130 with

Incident Details

October 15, 2006 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

Updated Information comes from the pilot’s friend who was watched it happen. Sunday Columbus Day Weekend Sergio and I agreed to meet in Wellington (West of PalmBeach) He led me to a residential area still under development where one of his two brothers lives in. He had scouted a launch area the day before. The area consisted of an L Shaped hard dirt with small weeds growing. on the inside of this L Shaped is a man made lake-canal. The width of the launch area was about 200′ and its length was significantly longer about 1 street block. I am a foot launch and relatively new to this sport with about 9 hours solo. Sergio was a seasoned free flight Pilot in Colombia. We met in early August and have been flying on cross country type missions since then every weekend. It was about 9 AM when I began to fly. The air was calm and barely coming out of the West. This put me on a direct path to the lake. I did not mind too much launching over the water probably due to a perfect launch over the water a few weeks back also with Sergio on a similar situation. I was flying for about 45 min waiting for Sergio to come up. He tried to launch at least 3 times in just about every direction but never got to make a good inflation. Since he was alone on the ground he had to unstrap and reset by himself. I radioed in that I would land to assist him. After resting a few minutes I told him that there was a great spot to try to launch from just at the end of the block towards the L part of the land. It is about 1045 am now and the wind is still near calm but shifting in all sorts of directions. North then West then SW just really weird but very calm. My wind meter never showed more than 3 MPH at this time. I set up a few more wind markers throughout the area to help us determine better the winds position. Sergio insisted that we launch from where we were and that he would be airborne 1/2 way to the lake. I told him that I thought the lake was too close but he claimed that he had enough space to abort should lift off not be possible. We set each other up facing west (Towards the lake) since whatever wind there was definitely coming out of the west predominantly. We were both ready to take off and he wanted us to launch simultaneously. I had told him I thought it better for him to take off first since he had problems earlier and I could be here to help him reset. Also I had already flown so if I could not get up at least he could enjoy some flight time. He gave me the OK sign and proceeded to go full throttle. Wing inflation was quick and symmetrical with no pendulum. At mid point to the end of the runway the nose wheel picked up and by the time he reached the end of the runway the rear wheels were about 3-5 feet off the ground. He cleared the brush / Weed growth typical at lake edges. From my vantage point I could no longer see the trike bottom only the very top of his cage and the wing. My vision was obstructed due to the weeds / brush growth at the edge of the lake. I thought to myself he is not climbing at a rate I have seen him climb before. It looked very linear without lift. I recall telling myself if he does not start to climb he might scrape the water and then I saw the big splash followed by the collapse of the wing. I radioed to him but there was no response. I removed my wing and engine and ran to the lake edge. I saw his helmet about 5 feet from the wing as if he was standing in the water looking down to search for his rig. I called out to him but there was no answer. I swam out about 100 feet to the site and by now I know the helmet is floating on its own. I lift the wing to uncover the trike which is floating by its wheels but upside down. I felt that Sergio was still harnessed in and motionless. I do not know what the water depth is at this point but it is well above my 6 foot stance as I could not reach the bottom as I tried to flip the trike over. As I treaded water to keep myself afloat I became entangled with the lines around my arms neck and feet. Slowly I could no longer maintain my buoyancy and took a deep breath to calmly remove the lines entangling me. Free from them I went back to the trike and tried to release the buckles from Sergio’s harness. Sergio is a large man of about 300 pounds and I just could not get to the harness buckles from his upside position. The next best thing was to try to get to the shore where I could use a strong foot hold to invert him. So I took the nose of the trike and began to tow it ashore. I finally get to shore and manage to invert the trike and pull it out about waste high. I unbuckled Sergio but could not remove him from the harness so I shifted him to his side while still upright. The edge of the shore is not a beach entrance by any means. From basic rescue and water safety course I took many years ago I knew Id have to expel the water from his lungs but, in his current position, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Regardless I administered compressions and a few mouth to mouth cycles without any response. I ran back to my rig and called 911. Since Sergio had led me to this site, directions were not so clear to me. Luckily the Rescue operators had a signal on my cell phone and located me via GPS. I ran back to Sergio and continued CPR but later I would find out it was all in vain since he had perished long before being pulled ashore. The coroners report is that he had a slight brain hemorrhage which made him lose consciousness and drown at that point. I tell this story so that other pilots can learn a few things from this tragedy. The obvious lessons: Avoid flying over water. Do not make flying over water part of your launch path Have a detailed flight plan. Know where you are. (addresses, intersections, etc) Have contact numbers for the pilots family in case of emergency. When not in a sanctioned flying area…Always look for a better launch site don’t assume where you are is the best Never let your Guard down. Don’t be fooled into thinking your skills or abilities are limitless. If you have your helmet on ,at least buckle it! (Sergio commonly flew unbuckled) Not more than two weeks before this incident Sergio and I did a similar flight that went off perfectly. These picture perfect flights are moments to savor but at the same time give you false sense of confidence. I had my helmet on during Sergio’s run so I cannot tell you if the engine slowed or quit. I can safely say that there was no turbulence or thermal or sudden shifts. The winds remained very calm until about noon that day. I was flying between 9-10 am and at various altitudes between 100 and 700 feet and I remember commenting that the air was so smooth like glass. I was looking forward to the cross country with a bump free ride… So contrary to what the local newspaper reported there was not CRASH due to winds. To me it still seems as if the trike did not climbout as usual. Later that day I contacted his instructor and my fellow pilot friend to discuss the day and he told me that there are temperature differences between land and water masses. He believe that there was descending air at the lake shore that impeded his ability to lift. I hope the loss of Sergio was not in vain. I for one have a new found respect for our limitations and fragility as humans. I will continue with my sport but with more caution. I lost a fine mentor in this sport one that made my flying more enjoyable than ever.

Flight Window: Wind Speed: Type: Phase of Flight: Type of Injury: Collateral Damage: Analysis of the incident (additional input by the incident investigation team): Photos (if available):

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