E-Paper
Body of missing Polish paraglider recovered from Dhauladhars
Kulawik Andrez Wiktor,70, was among a group of four flyers, to take off from Bir-Billing on October 23, and was headed to Dharamshala. While three of them were rescued safely by the emergency response teams, Kulawik went missing in the high mountains. He apparently was knocked off by a strong gust of wind and crashed into the mountain.
Rescue workers retrieved the body of a Polish paraglider from Dhauladhar mountains on Thursday after a 10-day search operation.
His body was found at a cliff below 4,550-m Kundali pass, amongst the most difficult terrains in Dhauladhar mountains, on Wednesday by the experts from High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS), Gulmarg.
Kulawik Andrez Wiktor,70, was among a group of four flyers, to take off from Bir-Billing on October 23, and was headed to Dharamshala. While three of them were rescued safely by the emergency response teams, Kulawik went missing in the high mountains. He apparently was knocked off by a strong gust of wind and crashed into the mountain.
He was last seen flying over Kareri village, a remote hamlet 25 km northwest of Dharamshala, before disappearing in the high mountains.
After a missing report was filed at Bir police station, a ground and aerial search operation involving NDRF and SDRF teams and two private helicopters was launched by the local administration, said Kangra deputy commissioner Nipun Jindal addressing a press conference.
The aerial search team had located his glider at a height of around 3,650-m but the body was not visible.
After the private helicopter operators expressed inability to carry out rescue operation at such a height, the administration sought help of the Indian Air Force (IAF), said Jindal. Search operation was relaunched with the help of two Cheetah helicopters of IAF on October 27.
He said that ground teams and the Garud Commandos of the IAF couldn’t reach the location despite several attempts due to it being a treacherous steep cliff.
After the failed attempts, the local administration sought help of HAWS, who sent a team to Dharamshala.
The search team, after a survey of location, descended on a plateau at about 3,800 m where they set up their base.
They hauled up the body with the help of a winch machine on Wednesday and it was airlifted by a helicopter on Thursday morning.
The mortal remains of the deceased pilot have been handed over to the family members after conducting autopsy.
The DC said that the administration was working to develop a mechanism for solo free flyers like Kulawik to curb such incidents.
Kulawik was in Bir Billing coinciding with the Cross-Country Paragliding Pre-World Cup but was not participating in the event. He was registered as a free flyer.
Three paragliders have lost their lives after taking in Bir Billing in last about a fortnight.
On October 21, a Lucknow pilot, who was undergoing a thermalling course in a private paragliding school, had died after his glider crashed and fell into a gorge.
On October 28, a Russian pilot had died after crash landing in high mountains overlooking Palampur town.
