Himachal: Tourist killed, pilot hurt as paragliders collide in Kullu

Preliminary investigations suggest pilot attempted to perform a 360-degree swirl with the paraglider that collided with another one, which managed to maintain its balance, says Kullu SDM Vikas Shukla

A tourist from Tamil Nadu was killed and a pilot was severely injured after the paraglider they were on collided with another one in Kullu’s Gadsa paragliding site on Friday.

Following violations, paragliding at the Gadsa site in Kullu was banned in January 2023 which was lifted in February 2023. (Picture only for representational purpose)

The deceased has been identified as Jayesh Ram, 28, hailing from Tamil Nadu while the injured pilot was Ashwani Kumar, a resident of Gadsa village in Kullu. The district administration has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. Following violations, paragliding at the Gadsa site was banned in January 2023 which was lifted in February 2023.

“Preliminary investigations suggest that Kumar attempted to perform a 360-degree swirl with the paraglider. The paraglider collided with another one, which managed to maintain its balance,” said Kullu sub-divisional magistrate Vikas Shukla.

The accident comes 10 days after a 32-year-old tourist Mahesh Reddy from Andhra Pradesh was killed while the pilot was injured in a paragliding crash at Raison in Manali subdivision.

Sources said that both the injured were rushed to a private hospital where Jayesh Ram was declared brought dead. Kumar, a registered tandem pilot with the Kullu district tourism department, was later referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh.

At least 10 paragliders, including some foreigners, have been killed in the last two years in Himachal Pradesh raising question mark on safety arrangements.