Notes on a PG crash for Learning Purposes

Today at the Saddle Mountain launch, Paul Kunzle, a paraglider pilot from the Gig Harbor area, was injured fairly seriously. Winds were light to moderate, with cycles in every direction. Paul had his wing laid out for about an hour on the normal launch about 100 meters below the wind streamer pole, waiting for soarable conditions. At about 13:30, he asked me what I thought of conditions, and I said it was almost certainly soarable, and the best strategy might be to fly straight out from launch to find thermals from the flats. Then I went to get my hang glider, along with Naomi, and we carried our gliders to launch after waiting a few minutes for a moderate S wind to blow through.

I was waiting just above Paul, about halfway between him and the streamer pole, when I saw wind swirling through the brush to my right. There wasn't enough dust to make a dust devil, but I yelled to everyone around to hang on to their gliders, as a thermal was coming through. In hindsight I should have advised Paul to ball up his wing, but I didn't think to do that. A few seconds later, the thermal/twister yanked Paul's canopy off the ground. He tried to get control of it, but he wasn't able to get the D lines or tip lines in his hands quick enough before the wing spun, flew overhead, and lifted him a few feet. He was dropped back on the ground, pretty gently, and the wing came down too, but Paul was being dragged and again didn't have a chance to get control over the canopy.

Immediately the thermal pulled up the canopy and then lifted Paul off the ground. The wing almost looked well enough inflated to fly, and for a couple seconds I thought he might even do a successful, if inadvertent, launch. But the risers had at least a full one-and-a-half 360-degree twist, and the brakes seemed to be locked in a full-down position. The wing was also being thrashed pretty soundly by the thermal.

It was hard for me to be sure exactly what happened after that, but after being lifted to 20 or 30 feet off the ground, Paul swung back into the hill, heading about SW, and it looked like he came in feet first with legs extended straight. He impacted, and I ran down to him as soon as I could get unhooked from my glider. He was conscious when I got there (30 seconds or so after he hit), lying on his side facing downhill, and raising his arm to signal for help.  

We called 911 immediately, and resisted any temptations to move Paul, even to make him more comfortable. We got his harness unbuckled except for the shoulder strap he was lying on, and put clothing under his head. At first he didn't have any feeling in his right leg, and he had a lot of lower back pain. We thought he might have a broken right femur and/or hip/pelvis, but the EMTs (later) didn't think that was the case. Naomi and I drove most of the way to Mattawa to meet a local ambulance and guide it back to launch. A medevac helicopter arrived from Moses Lake at the same time as the ambulance. By the time we got Paul on the helicopter, he could move and feel with both legs. That was a big relief! From what I could see, neither leg looked badly distorted.

The helicopter took Paul to the nearest good trauma center, Central WA Hospital in Wenatchee. I tried calling there to find out what his condition is, but haven't been able to get through after hours. Someone at launch tried calling Paul's wife, and left a message that he was injured but doing okay. Russ Gelfan arranged for driving Paul's vehicle back to Seattle. If anyone on this list knows Paul Kunzle well, you might want to get hold of his wife or try calling the hospital in Wenatchee to give your best wishes. If someone gets more info on Paul's condition or how to contact him, please post it.

We've been trying to think of what we could have done to prevent this accident.

The first lesson I would take from it is:  “Don't be complacent.” It's springtime, and we all tend to forget how powerful and even dangerous thermals at ground level can be. We were in the habit of hoping for strong enough lift to soar, and the day didn't look particularly unstable. It had more of a high-pressure feel, with high, thin overcast and no cus anywhere close. But there were a couple of dust devils visible in the distant flats by about 1:00 p.m.

The second, more specific lesson might be:  “Don't lay out your wing until you're ready to launch.”  This was the first time I've seen anyone get hurt on a paraglider due to a completely unintentional launch, and that includes being through several major comps at ripping sites like Chelan, Valle de Bravo, and the Owens Valley. But it's obviously a real risk. I expect to keep my wing balled up until the last minute after this.

Finally, whenever we find ourselves nearby when someone is being dragged or thrashed out of control, it would be good to remember that it's better to stand or sit on the wing than to risk having the pilot get hurt.

- Peter Gray