During a paragliding venue in Columbia, two pilots find themselves intertwined after a midair collision. While one of the pilots deploys his reserve in less than five seconds, the other pilot has trouble. “Throw your reserve” is repeated by the second pilot as they descend on a single reserve and one uncontrollable paraglider wing.
The first pilot struggles with her reserve and manages to open it after close to a minute of fumbling with the lines. This may be due to a lack of knowledge in using the reserve or a poorly packed reserve. After the first pilot deploys her reserve, it soon wraps around the paraglider lines.
As they near the ground, the first pilot’s fully inflated paraglider wing starts to work against their descent. The paraglider’s wing starts pulling the two sideways and causing a spiral. The second pilot calls out for her to pull her glider in, but the spiral makes it impossible to do so.
Luckily, the pair landed in a cornfield instead of a hard surface where the impact would have been worse.
Both pilots have been reported to be well.
