Swiss pilot who died in a paragliding accident in ES had years of experience | Holy Spirit

The Swiss pilot Dan Morand, 35 years old, who died in a paragliding accident after jumping from the Ubá ramp, in Castelo, in the south of Espírito Santo, had years of experience, according to the technical responsible for the World Cup of the sport Frank Brown . The accident happened on the morning of this Wednesday (22) during a stage of the competition being held in the city.

Still according to Brown, possibly the Swiss must have encountered turbulence near the mountain in the region and lost control of the equipment he was using.

“A situation that you find close to the mountain is possible turbulence. If you fly and approach the mountain, you know that you won’t have time to launch the reserve equipment. That’s where the pilot’s discernment comes in to take the risk”, he said. .

Paragliding pilot body rescue in ES

In the case of the Swiss, according to Frank Bronw, his experience in his country may have influenced his choice of flying closer to the mountain.

“He was born and raised near mountains. This could have given him a false sense of control in turbulence, which caused the fatal accident to happen,” he said.

Bronw said weather conditions were favorable at the time of the accident.

The technical responsible for the event and also 12 times Brazilian champion in the modality Frank Brown also said that the fatality rate of paragliding is lower than in sports such as mountaineering and base jumping.

“A few years ago, the sport went through a revolution in which athletes lost a little performance to ensure safety. Paragliding took two steps back for pilots to be safer. An example of this is that, to fly, all the equipment used need approval in terms of strength and stability,” he explained.

Brown also said that paragliding has several measures, both active and passive, to increase the safety of athletes, such as the briefing that is given to all competitors days before the world championship.

“In this briefing, we present the entire area to the athlete and also specifically about the region where he flies. We talk, for example, about particularities in Brazil, which is the possibility of finding wires, the importance of moving away from houses and buildings, what happens when you encounter cattle, which may get scared and attack, among other guidelines”, he explained.

Despite all guidelines, according to Frank, accidents can happen, but they are rare.

“In 10 years, we had very few deaths in world championships. What can happen is an incident, which is when the pilot uses the reserve equipment. Despite this, the average is a championship to have one or, at most, two incidents”, he said. .

Paragliding pilot body rescue in ES

At the end of the morning, around 11:50 am, teams from the Air Operations and Transport Nucleus (Notaer) were called in by the Military Fire Department to rescue a paraglider in an accident in a region known as Patrimônio Do Ouro.

Residents and other athletes saw the accident and called the fire department. Due to the difficulty in accessing the crash site, a Notaer helicopter was sent to the region, along with an aeromedical team from Samu, to speed up the assistance to possible victims of the accident.

After flying over the aircraft, Notaer professionals found Dan Morant. The pilot’s death was confirmed at the crash site. The victim had multiple traumas.