Friday 26th July 2024
Series of deaths of adventure seekers have stalled solo paragliding operations in Pokhara.
The third consecutive incident of a Russian national Dmitril Stepanishin, who died making a solo flight in Pokhara on March 05, 2019, made the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to stop solo paragliding in Pokhara.
Surprisingly, all the three incidents took place in the last one-week period. #NepalParagliding
Earlier on March 03, 2019, a Romanian national Ebe Chisjer (40) lost his life in paragliding after his flight crash-landed into the Phewa Lake.
Later on March 04, 2019, two pilots have suffered injuries in a similar accident at Machhapuchchhre Rural Municipality and Modi Rural Municipality in the Pokhara district.
And, the third incident on March 05, 2019 occurred after Dmitril lost his control soon after a solo flight from the Sarangkot Hill in Pokhara and crashed into a hill, says Inspector Ganesh Subedi of the Kaski District.
Considering the series of incidents, CAAN called on for halt of solo paragliding flights in the region with immediate effect until further notice. #NepalAdventureTourism
Flight beyond the specified limits by some foreign pilots is also behind CAAN’s decision.
Meanwhile, authorities of Sindhupalchok district are striving hard to develop the region as Nepal’s paragliding destination.
Towards this end, a group of paragliding enthusiasts have conducted three successful flight tests at Kadambas in Chautara Sangachokgadhi Municipality, which turned out to be a grand success.
According to Milan Pakhrin of Lamachaur Paragliding Organisation, test flights were conducted from a hill point called Lamachaurdanda situated at the height of 1,300 feet.
Member of the Paragliding and Hang-Gliding Association Umesh KC led the testing team.
“The test flights were successful in view of geographical structure, height and air pressure,” said Pakhrin.
Continuing the pace, the Lamachaur Paragliding Organization is organizing more test flights on March 9, 2019 with the budget of NPR 400,000.
KC is hopeful about Lamachaurdanda’s potential to become Nepal’s popular commercial paragliding hub. “The beach of Sunkoshi or Indrawati could become ideal landing spot,” he adds.
Municipality Mayor Aman Singh Tamang has also extended his office’s support to the Lamachaur Paragliding Organization in developing ‘Lamachaurdanda’ as a paragliding destination.
“We will help them build necessary infrastructures and offer technical support,” Tamang said in a statement.
