Forums > General Discussion   Shooting the breeze...

Dangerous rescue paragliding.

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Created by busterwa > 9 months ago, 8 Aug 2018
busterwa
3777 posts
8 Aug 2018 7:33AM
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Not much info on it Seems a bad position to be in for all.

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
8 Aug 2018 10:31AM
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Are they trying to rescue his rig or is there a person in there still?

If it's the former, har! good luck with that. Getting a foil out of the surf when it's full of water is a nightmare.

Wollemi
NSW, 349 posts
8 Aug 2018 6:34PM
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Kamikuza said..
Are they trying to rescue his rig or is there a person in there still?

Getting a foil out of the surf when it's full of water is a nightmare.


There is a 6th person seen at 40 - 45s mark, kinda sitting up in the lines, with a Gath(?) helmet on... then CPR on that person later.
Drone pilot couldn't assist??
Bit of concern for everyone under soil cliff... and life-span of modern houses at the top.

Gorgo
VIC, 4911 posts
10 Aug 2018 7:38AM
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sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/01/21/paraglider-dies-pacifica/

From paragliding forum

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Hi all. I hate that this is my first post on this forum. But know exactly what took place in this video as the people in the video are all close pilot friends, including the guy who died. This unfortunately was a drowning death of a solo pilot last year, Solomon.

Several friends risked their lives trying to save Solomon. Notably Harry, who was trying to cut Solomon free from his wing he was badly tangled in. Harry got dragged into the deep a few times trying to cut him loose, then can be seen giving him CPR, but to no avail. Mark, the guy in the black shirt, also swallowed a lot of sea water trying to save him. You can see him puking his brains out. It was very heroic to rush into those giant freezing cold waves fully dressed to try and save a fellow pilot.

To give you some background on the day. That day had some of the biggest waves of the year. Zero beach to land on as you can see. Conditions were light and getting lighter. Some flew when it was strong enough not to worry about sinking out, as it was easy to top land. Solomon was the only one flying when it got light.

He was warned by other pilots not to fly as it got too light. But chose to do so anyway, as was usual with him. He got a kick out of freaking people out by flying in total **** conditions. He was very experienced at this site, wearing out a few wings in 4 years. He would fly in the fog, in the pouring rain, even in 30mph wind wearing 50lbs of ballast. He crashed more often in the 4 years I knew him, than everyone else combined. Yet never learned, despite even breaking his back the previous year.

Solomon launched, and sunk out into the giant waves in front of everyone watching in horror from the high cliffs. For those that think he should of been stopped from launching. That had been tried before. Solomon was 6'3" and very strong, fit. An instructor once tried to stop him from flying another site. Solomon just shoved the guy out of the way and launched anyway.

Funny thing was, he was actually a very nice friendly pleasant guy. Most people liked him and he was fun to be around, highly entertaining. He wasn't a dummy, highly educated, in mid 50's, worked in medical research. He was also claimed to be an Olympic swimmer for China in his youth. I believe him as I've seen him swim in those giant waves. This was the 5th time he landed in the ocean with a wing.

Despite his craziness, I miss the guy. This is a hard video for me to watch. But it does show the heroic nature of a few of my friends. Especially Harry who is a long time member of this forum, perhaps he will chime in. He is the one getting dragged deep trying to cut Solomon free, and doing CPR. This video in heart wrenching reminder for those who were there. As Soloman was in good shape, and excellent swimmer, and it took him a very long time to drown, while everyone watched from above. Nothing anyone could do to save him from those crazy big waves, despite the crazy heroics of the day.

From what my friends that were trying to rescue Solomon told me, hook knives are complete **** on wet lines. They had hook knives that failed after just a couple of cuts. Lines would get stuck sideways in them, and they would no longer cut. Solomon was tangled badly.

He was initially dragged far out by a rip current. Only when the waves brought him back in close further down the beach could the guys try and pull him in. It would of been suicide to swim out into the big waves and wrestle with a tangled pilot. What worked best was a regular sharp knife, not a hook knife. Only a sharp regular knife was able to finally cut him free.

Rescue was instantly called. The fellow pilots had him out of the water before the professional rescue people arrived and could get to him. By then it was already too late. One pilot down there pulling him from water was former EMT (emergency medical technician) so knew CPR and drowning revival methods. Also so was the rescue firefighter EMT guy who slid down the cliff to help. But despite a valiant effort you can see in the video, was too late to bring him back from death. So no need for helicopter at that point.

The waves that day where the rip current dragged Soloman into were easily 20ft. You are just seeing the white water in this video, not the breakers Soloman was being churned in. Would of been a crazy attempt for even a helicopter and guy in scuba gear had they gotten there in time. Wing in that size of waves has the force of tons pulling on it. Even a helicopter would be in serious danger trying to hook into that and pull it out. Imagine a big wave jerking a helicopter around. It would be nuts to even attempt.

This is why rule number 1 while flying the pacific coast is. Don't land in the water. Rule 2, don't fly if you don't have a safe place to land. (insufficient beach) Everyone else has no problem following these rules. But Solomon loved a challenge. If you told him not to do something, he would try ten times harder to do it. All while laughing like a mad man.

dmitri
VIC, 1040 posts
10 Aug 2018 8:12AM
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Pretty sad video.
It's like from his soul perspective that left the body already.

Macroscien
QLD, 6791 posts
10 Aug 2018 2:41PM
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Wollemi said..

and life-span of modern houses at the top.


Maybe those hoses have parasails/ parachutes attached already (?)



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Forums > General Discussion   Shooting the breeze...


"Dangerous rescue paragliding." started by busterwa