A collision between a longtime Utah paragliding instructor and a hang glider Tuesday left the instructor dead and a woman he was paragliding in tandem with critically injured.
According to Draper police, the paragliding instructor, Joshua Ellison, 44, was in a tandem flight with the woman shortly after 5 p.m. at the Salt Lake County Flight Park, located at 15300 S. Steep Mountain Road, near Point of the Mountain.
That’s when the two collided midair with a solo hang glider, and all three crashed to the ground.
Ellison died at the scene, police said. The woman, 30, was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
The hang glider was hospitalized with severe injuries, police said Wednesday afternoon, noting that officials had initially incorrectly reported that the hang glider was treated for minor injuries and released at the scene.
The names of the hospitalized woman and hang glider were not immediately released.
The Salt Lake County Flight Park, also known as the Salt Lake County Hang Gliding Park, is considered a prime hang gliding location. The park is owned and managed by Salt Lake County, and has two launch areas for hang gliders and paragliders.
Paragliders are lightweight aircraft that have no rigid structure; they are like large parachutes. Hang gliders have a rigid frame, generally made of aluminum or carbon fiber.
It’s unclear what led to the fatal Tuesday collision. Ellison was considered an experienced paraglider; the experience level of the hang glider was not immediately known. The crash remains under investigation.
“We wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr. Ellison, those injured, and the paragliding community,” Draper police said in a statement.
The U.S. Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association reported five known paragliding fatalities last year. One was in California, another was in Washington, and the others were in Chile, Mexico and the Philippines, respectively. The association also reported three hang gliding fatalities last year.
