Two paramotors collided mid-air at 1,000ft. One pilot tangled in other's lines, couldn't deploy reserve effectively. Second pilot's reserve saved both lives, landing at 2,000 ft/min on frozen ground.
Midair collision / Near Miss
High — very likely identified
In January 2012, two paramotors collided in mid-air at approximately 1,000ft AGL. One pilot became entangled in the lines and paraglider of the other pilot, which hampered his ability to deploy his emergency parachute until it was too late to be effective. The second pilot successfully deployed his emergency parachute, which carried the weight of both pilots. The descent took 30 seconds with a vertical speed of 2,000 ft/minute (approximately 10 m/s). Both pilots miraculously landed on clear but frozen ground.
Fully opened
frozen ground
January 1, 2012
United Kingdom
305 m
Both pilots had approximately 200 successful flights prior to this accident
Collided
In January 2012 a regular paramotor flight took a potentially disastrous turn when two paramotors collided in mid air at around 1,000ft above ground level. One pilot became tangled in the lines and the paraglider of the other pilot hampering the deployment of the parachute until it was too late to be effective. The second pilot managed to deploy his emergency parachute which carried the weight of both pilots ultimately saving their both of their lives. It takes 30 seconds for both to get to ground level miraculously landing on clear all be it frozen ground. With both pilots landing under a single reserve parachute the vertical speed was 2,000ft/minute as the first pilot crash landed. For all those paramotor and paraglider pilots that choose not to wear a reserve chute, please reconsider as without one, we wouldn't be around. The pilots concerned clocked up around 200 successful flights prior to this accident.