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

Pilot Details

Age: 47 Weight: 175 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: Hathor Symphony Size: Paramotor Frame: Paramotor, ~100lbs with

Incident Details

July 12, 2007 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

Pilot was doing footdrags over water, approximately 150 feet from shore. Pilot apparently misjudged the water surface and got dragged in. The pilot and motor immediately sank to the length of the lines, while the glider stayed partially inflated on the surface of the water. Pilot managed to free himself from the harness underwater, and began swimming for shore. For unknown reasons, the pilot only swam about 60 feet before going under and drowning. Bystanders attempted to save him, but were unable to. It is suspected that since the water landing was completely unexpected by the pilot, he didn’t have a chance to take in a full breath of air before going down. That combined with the trauma of unbuckling the harness underwater and swimming with boots and clothing was too much, and he was unable to swim to safety. Additionally, it is unknown if the pilot was a competent swimmer. Water rescue divers recovered pilot’s body at a depth of 35 feet. As he was underwater for about 40 minutes, attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. Hopefully this tragedy will be noted by anyone considering footdrags over water. ed: this event was aggravated by being at night. The result, drowning, would not have likely been different had it occured during the day.

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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