Moment hang glider crashes into paraglider in horror mid-air smash before pilot plunges to his death
HORROR footage shows the moment a hang glider crashed into a paraglider mid-air – causing its pilot to plunge to his death.
Sergio Manoel Da Silva, a flight instructor, was flying with a student when he collided with Philip Eric Haegler in Brazil.
Horror footage shows Sergio flying with a student in a red hang glider when he suddenly collides with Philip in a green paraglider.
Philip’s paraglider approached quickly from the opposite direction and just beneath the instructor’s hang glider.
The footage shows parts of the equipment and the pilot’s body striking the paraglider before the canopy tangles and Philip loses control.
Philip then hit the facade of a building on Avenida Prefeito Mendes de Morais around the 11th floor before plunging about 150ft.
Sergio told officers he became distracted as he approached the landing area.
He said he looked down to release the student’s leg strap in a standard manoeuvre and lost sight of Philip’s paraglider for about three seconds.
When he looked forward again, he was startled to see Philip approaching from the opposite direction and slightly below.
The flight instructor told authorities that he attempted a sudden movement but could not avoid the collision.
He insisted Philip made no mistake and said the crash was caused by a split-second lapse.
Cops have now concluded that Sergio acted with “negligence” and “inattention” and failed to follow the sporting flight safety rules.
Philip was a two-time Brazilian free-flight champion.
He was due to turn 60 two days after the crash.
It comes after a world-class daredevil tragically died in a horror crash after slamming into a famous Cape Town peak during a test flight.
Jean Jacques Wallis, 35, an aerial sports pro with more than 20 years in paragliding was killed when his trial run went catastrophically wrong.
He was reportedly testing out a highly responsive Flare Moustache parakite when he smashed into Cape Town’s iconic Lion’s Head mountain.
In August, a daredevil CEO died in a horror wingsuit crash after he collided with trees in the Swiss Alps.
Kirk Hawkins, 58, was described as the “most extraordinary person” by his devastated friend.
The Swiss Alps also claimed the life of a Scottish wingsuit flyer in June.
Liam Byrne, 24, tragically lost his life during the jump at Gitschen, a 8,245ft mountain in the Urner Alps.