RC Airplane Collides With Paraglider

A paraglider was flying along above Utah last Friday, about 75 feet high, when he encountered an airplane at his altitude … which quickly became an unpleasant surprise. The remote-controlled airplane, with a 21-inch wingspan, dispensed enough force to disrupt the parafoil. The paraglider pilot, Wade Hutchinson, 31, of Wyoming, crashed on the side of a slope, but was spared serious injury. “That mountain helped break his fall,” local police officer Clint Fackrell told the Salt Lake Tribune, referring to the angle of the terrain. The glider “folded up” on impact, according to the Tribune (not much of a surprise considering paraglider wings have no solid structural members). Hutchinson was flown to a hospital by helicopter, but his injuries were reported to be not life-threatening. Police said they don’t plan to file any charges against the pilot of the radio-controlled airplane.