27-year-old’s body recovered from tough terrain
Munish Sood
Mandi: A 27-year-old Canadian paraglider was found d*ead in the upper reaches of the Dhauladhar range, north of the Himani Chamunda temple, in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
The flier, who had been missing since Saturday (October 18, 2025), reportedly crash-landed at an altitude of nearly 3,900 metres after losing her route during a solo flight from Bir-Billing, one of the world’s most renowned paragliding sites.
According to the Baijnath administration, a rescue operation was launched on Sunday with the assistance of climbers and members of the Bir-Billing Paragliding Association (BPA) after the flier failed to return to her designated landing site at Chogan.
Rescuers air-dropped to retrieve body from gorge
Rescue climber Rahul Singh was air-dropped near the suspected crash location late Sunday evening and managed to reach the site. However, he found that the paraglider had already died, apparently due to severe cold and multiple injuries sustained upon impact with the rocky terrain. Singh stayed with the body throughout the night in freezing conditions at an altitude of 3,900 metres.
Early Monday morning, a team of five additional rescuers was airlifted to the crash zone. They shifted the body about 500 metres above the crash site to facilitate helicopter evacuation. By afternoon, the remains were airlifted to Gaggal airport and later transported for post-mortem examination.
Officials said the Canadian Embassy in New Delhi had been informed and that repatriation arrangements are underway.
Preliminary findings suggest that the pilot, who was flying solo, may not have been familiar with the complex geography and unpredictable weather conditions of the Dhauladhar range. The region’s steep cliffs, narrow ridges and sudden wind shifts often pose serious challenges even to seasoned fliers.
Incident raises concern over safety measures
The incident has once again raised questions over safety standards and monitoring at Bir-Billing, which attracts hundreds of paragliders from India and abroad every year. In the past two years alone, several fatal accidents have been reported in the area.
In October 2023, three paragliding pilots, including a Russian and a Polish national, died in separate crashes. A year later, in October 2024, a Belgian pilot lost his life after a mid-air collision during a cross-country flight.
During an international event last year, another participant suffered critical injuries following a hard landing in the same region.
Experts believe that many solo foreign pilots venture into uncharted or high-altitude zones without a detailed understanding of local meteorological conditions. Sudden weather changes, especially strong downdrafts and shifting thermals, frequently lead to loss of control or emergency landings.
While Himachal Pradesh’s Tourism Department has laid down strict safety norms under the state’s Aero Sports Rules, including mandatory licensing, use of radio sets, altimeters, parachutes and pilot insurance, the enforcement of these guidelines remains inconsistent. Rescue operations in high-altitude zones are often delayed due to difficult terrain and lack of rapid-response infrastructure.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, a rescue team from the Bir-Billing Paragliding Association and Mountain Para Rescue successfully located and evacuated Austrian solo pilot Jakob Krammer, who had gone missing after taking off from Billing on Sunday afternoon. Krammer reportedly flew towards the Barot and Bada Bhangal region but lost his way due to sudden bad weather. He managed to make a safe emergency landing on rugged mountain terrain at approximately 14,000 feet, an area considered extremely challenging for paragliding landings.
After landing, Krammer established contact with BPA members, who advised him not to move further and to stay where he was until help arrived. Early Monday, a joint rescue team reached the spot and successfully airlifted him from the high-altitude terrain near Bada Bhangal.
Authorities have praised the swift coordination between the district administration, BPA volunteers and local rescue teams, stating that the Austrian pilot’s survival was largely due to his prompt communication and adherence to safety instructions during the emergency.
