SAFA Skysailor Magazine

37 September | October 2021 SKY SAILOR heavily. The harness they were flying had no protection to lessen the impact. The witness stayed in radio contact with the pilot, then landed and assisted the pilot. QAS was contacted and paramedics arrived within 30 minutes. The pilot was carried out of the dune to the ambulance, then driven to town where they were carried by helicopter to SCUH. There they were assessed, then transferred by helicopter to RBWH. The PIC sustained fractured C5, C7, T1, L1 vertebrae, 5 broken ribs (T6-9, 11), a small, stable spleen tear and small pneumothorax (stable). When paragliding in light wind conditions at the coast, it is tempting to go deep on the brakes to maintain position over a landing area or to maintain an approach to a landing spot. The danger in this method is that you may stall the wing with insufficient height to recover. Flying deep on the brakes just before the stall is dangerous because adding more brake to turn, or flying into turbulence, may be enough to have the wing stall on you. It’s better to use a crabbing approach to a top landing or do a slope landing rather than top landing deep on the brakes. All pilots are encouraged to find time to practice stalling the wing while ground handling. It is possible to find where your wing will stall while flying one foot above the ground. For reference, watch this (although don’t go as high as he does - keep it to 6ft maximum). All pilots should bear in mind that an impact into sand can cause serious injury. It should in no way be viewed as a surface that will provide a measure of cushion from an impact. AIRS #1309 – Rainbow Beach rotor PIC (PG2) was flying their paraglider at the Carlo Sand Blow (Rainbow Beach, Qld/S). The pilot had approached from the southern end of the Blow, determined they were too high for a landing approach and done a 180-degree turn to lose some height. This resulted in a considerable loss of height, due to this area being in turbulent air with no lift. PIC had seen another pilot further back in the Blow, so to avoid flying in front of their glider, they turned downwind to try and fly behind them. Once past the other pilot, they lost a lot of height and attempted to carry out a steep banked turn to try and face into wind to land. Due to PIC not having enough height, and the turbulent air, they impacted the ground whilst still in the banked turn. The pilot hit the ground and bounced, then was dragged until coming to a rest. Other pilots came to their aid to stabilise them, and an air ambulance was called. They were air-lifted to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.