Incident Details

Colin Clark was flying with another pilot (Greg) from Prospector trail area near St. George, Utah, planning to fly to Pine Mountain for ridge soaring. Flying at approximately 500 feet AGL, he descended between two hills and crossed a sandy sagebrush area. When he looked left and saw what appeared to be a familiar canyon he had flown down previously, he turned left into it. Immediately upon entering, he realized it was the wrong canyon - a box canyon with no exit. With only 29 seconds from recognition to impact, he attempted to hug the right wall then left wall to make the tightest possible turn, but couldn't make it. He impacted the canyon wall at approximately 3,600 feet elevation. First point of impact was high on the wall where frame skids scraped. Second impact was about 30 feet lower where he landed on his back, breaking his tailbone. He then rolled off a ledge headfirst but stopped about a foot from the bottom when his wing caught on rocks above. The single-point quick-release harness allowed immediate exit. He walked out of the canyon (about 2 miles to trail) and sent text to Greg who retrieved his truck. The entire paramotor frame was destroyed, engine seized, all frame pieces broken. Only salvageable parts were the spacer plate and propeller. Pilot wore helmet which had no scratches. Only physical contact was through gloves (ripped holes) and back/tailbone impact. Experienced psychological trauma for 3 weeks with trouble sleeping.

Pilot error - misidentified canyon and entered box canyon with no exit. Contributing factor was new Helix 130 prop with cooling fins (second flight) which didn't spool up as quickly as previous 125 prop or old 130 prop, potentially reducing ability to climb out. Pilot admitted to having 'intermediate syndrome' and flying in dangerous places against instructor advice. Made impulsive decision based on quick visual assessment without proper planning.

Broken tailbone. No scrapes or scratches elsewhere. Only physical contact besides tailbone was ripped gloves.

41 years old at time of video (2019), 36 at time of crash (2014). US Army veteran, RF engineer. Had intermediate syndrome, flew in risky places against instructor advice. Second flight with new Helix 130 prop.

Mid-August, no adverse weather mentioned

Colin Clark's 5-year anniversary analysis video of his August 16, 2014 crash. Pilot statement: 'Five years ago I crashed my paramotor in a box canyon. Here's a recap and analysis of that crash.' 'Before I explain the crash I want to make one thing perfectly clear this was the fault of no one but me. I was 100% responsible for this crash no one else can be held liable for what I did. My instructors told me not to fly in places like that. I had intermediate syndrome I flew in places like that.' 'We were planning on doing some ridge soaring... flying high but me and my adventurous type wanted to get lower and closer to that earth... I look to my left and just said hey look there's a great Canyon... I thought for a split second right here I was gonna fly up this Canyon and it was the same canyon but then BOOM oh my gosh right here 29 seconds from the point of impact I realize I'm in the wrong Canyon and I'm gonna crash and I'm probably gonna die.' 'I looked at the end of the canyon saw that it ended so I hugged the right wall here and I tried to hug the left wall so I could make this turn as tight as I could and here I hit it and I couldn't make it.' 'The single-point quick release harness one pull and I was out of this para motor... it had enough pilot protection that it saved my life.' 'What a lot of people don't understand about this Canyon is how steep it is the GoPro does not do it justice it is really gnarly really steep and there is no way I could have climbed out of this thing.' 'Greg thought for sure I was dead he saw me walking around down there I gave him a wave said I'm okay sent him a text message he went back and got his truck and I walked out of this place it was an awful long walk.' 'This was quite a traumatic experience for me psychologically I had trouble sleeping for about three weeks... every time I shut my eyes all I could see is that cliff face fast approaching me.' Regarding equipment: 'A few months before my crash... I switched out to a 125... it would spool up really fast in the air... I thought I wanted to go back to the 130 and get the thrust back on the ground... I bought a helix 130 prop... it came with cooling fins... Right away I didn't have the throttle response I used to have... in the air it just did not spool up fast enough nowhere near what I had with the 125... This was my first flight with the new prop, my second flight with this prop was my crash.' Impact details: 'My scrape mark is right there... the left side up there and the right side here the skids... I didn't want to break my legs when I hit and so I picked up my feet... the cage bent around my body and it protected me from all the crap that was around here.' 'My second point of impact... I landed in this spot somewhere right here on my back and this is where I broke my tailbone... I rolled off the edge and I was coming down headfirst and I said this is it I'm gonna die and then I stopped... I put my feet down on the ground unclipped out of my harness it was amazing I stopped just a foot from the bottom because my paraglider caught some lip right here where these rocks are.' 'Helmet... not a scratch on it... everything on the paramotor was completely destroyed every frame piece was gone... the engine was smashed the piston had seized inside the cylinder... the only salvageable part on the entire machine was the spacer plate and the propeller.'