Return to the incident list: Incident List Water landing from foot drags PPG Type: Type of Injury:

Pilot Details

Age: 34 Weight: 180 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: Size: Paramotor Frame: with

Incident Details

January 25, 2007 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

While flying back through a tourist area over the lake, I decided to try my first water foot drag. Water was glass, stable winds. In front of some restaurants with some 100 onlookers, I came down, extended my foot, and did a 5 foot drag or so and lifted up. I then came down for another drag and my foot was dragging and I noticed I was getting too low, so I lifted my legs up. At this point, I think I was more focused on myself, than my motor and my wing, though I do recall adding throttle to climb up again. Next thing I know, my frame/gas tank is starting to touch the water and with the resultant drag, I knew I was going in. The area was about 50 feet from shore in about 6 feet of water. I immediately took a deep breath as I was going down and took no thought about fighting it. I relaxed and immediately went for my leg straps and shoulder straps. Once those were unfastened, I attempted to push away from my motor when I was still held in place by my instrument panel. I slapped myself for forgetting and unbuckled it. The water was very murky, so I had my eyes closed the entire time, not caring what position I was in and trying to right myself. I only focused on the harness straps. My head was maybe a foot under water, so it was an easy task of getting up for air once free from my unit. The wing kept flying once I went in, so it was straight out in front of me, with taut lines, which fortunately kept me from getting tangled in them. At this point, the only damage to the PPG appears to be a relay switch for the starter, as I was able to start the motor later manually. Cell phone and camera were also casualties, and a bit of pride. Lessons learned: – Water and PPG’s don’t mix. – Keep the foot drags on dry land (even that isn’t really worth doing considering the chips to the prop). – “Showing off”, or exceeding skills while others are watching increases the risk of an incident.

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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