Polish paraglider stranded in higher reaches of Kangra rescued

The Polish free-flyer who was stranded in the higher ranges of Kangra district was rescued on Tuesday, the third day of the search operations.

Andrew Babinski, a solo paragliding pilot, was stranded in the Dhauladhar hills on Sunday after colliding with another paraglider mid-air. He was in communication with his colleagues and the chopper for his rescue is being provided by his insurance company.

Baijnath SDM Devi Chand Thakur said, “The pilot was rescued and airlifted early on Tuesday by the chopper. He was injured and has been admitted to a hospital at Palampur.”

On Monday, efforts to airlift the paraglider failed due to tough terrain. The chopper conducted sorties twice but was not able to retrieve him as it was unable to land at the spot. However, a rescue team had reached him and shifted Babinski to a place from where he could be airlifted.

Last week, two foreign paragliders crashed to death in Himachal. On October 29, a Belgian paraglider, Patrice Feyaerts, lost his life as he crashed after a mid-air collision with another pilot shortly after taking off at Bir Billing. His reserve parachute failed to deploy after the collision. Later, on Wednesday, a solo Czech paraglider, Dita Misurcova, crashed into the mountains near Marhi in Manali after she lost control of the glider due to strong winds.

World cup tasks cancelled amid poor visibility

On the third day of the Paragliding World Cup being held at Bir Billing, meanwhile, the scheduled task for participants was called off due to unfavourable weather conditions and poor visibility.

The task, set by the technical committee, aimed for a 148-km ground distance. However, shortly after takeoff, all pilots were instructed to return due to deteriorating visibility.

“All pilots took off, but after some time, the task had to be cancelled. The pilots landed safely after free-flying,” a BPA official said.