Good weather and good conditions, still a little low cloudbase at times, but good thermals and nice

Yesterday we had some major drama – First Nils Fauske had a midair with a paraglider on the ridge between the takeoff and the observatory. Nils was established in a thermal with a few other hanggliders, the paraglider basically flew straight into the gaggle and Nils hit his lines.

Nils tumbled and fell upside down, he threw his chute, but it did not open due to the slow decent. He was less than a 100 meters above the ground when they hit, and he landed in some low bushes without major damage to himself or the glider. Luckiest man today!

The paraglider apparently flew on, missing some lines…

Here’s a picture of Nils after the accident. He got a small wireburn from the rear wires when he tubled, he was very glad to have a full face helmet, or the wire might have taken off more of his face.

Olav Opsanger came into goal, turned around to land, and got hit by turbulence from a glider landing in front of him, it was windy so the wind gradient probably amplified the problem. He hit the ground face first, and had some bleeding in the face. He was taken to hospital for a X-ray of the neck. It was fine, and he walked out a few hours later with just a stiff neck and swollen lip. He broke the basebar on the glider. I filmed the landing, but I was too far away for the footage to be useful.

Here’s a picture of Olav after the X-ray.

I had an uneventful but short flight, as the paragliders were infesting the rigde, and it was a bit stressful to have so many clearly unexpirienced pilots around in the thermals. So I flew out on the flats to enjoy the nice air with more room. I filmed most of the flight, but I can’t upload it until I get home, the internet link is way to slow here.