Two skydivers collide in freak midair SoCal horror

Two skydivers plunged to their deaths after colliding midair in a horrifying Southern California accident Friday.

The pair were rushed to a hospital after the reported midair collision in Lake Elsinore but neither survived, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the California Post. Deputies responded to the 20000 block of Cereal Street at 11:47 a.m. after receiving a report of an air emergency.

“Upon arrival, deputies located two skydivers on the ground receiving medical aid,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Deirdre Vickers. “Both subjects were transported to a local hospital in critical condition, where they were later pronounced deceased.”

Both skydivers suffered major traumatic injuries and were taken by ground ambulance for further care, the fire department told the Post. No other injuries were reported. Emergency response vehicles gathered in a grassy field with mountains in the background. Deputies responded to the 20000 block of Cereal Street at 11:47 a.m. after receiving a report of an air emergency. –

Before I got into ultralight and general aviation, I was an avid hang glider pilot. We had a person who we considered very old who was about my current age who was involved in several minor collisions when not paying attention in heavily used ridge lift locations. Fortunately, this took place in areas with cliffs and terrain that dropped off dramatically, so each time there was room for the pilots to recover.

In a sport which is regulated by an organization that has basically no control over participants... it is almost impossible to get rid of people who are hazards to others. The FAA has far more oversight over sky diving than it does over hang-gliding or paragliding or even flying ultralights.

The early high-performance double surface hang gliders that I used in my youth could be very touchy. If you tried to flair for landing when you had too much airspeed, you could easily end up 50ft in the air, and trying to hold the nose of the hang glider up, all the way to the ground for a very inglorious “landing”. When the conditions were not very good or unpredictable a lot of pilots sustained fairly serious injuries to their lower extremities or backs.

Fortunately, modern hang gliders have a much lower stall speed, so this type of mishap is much rarer these days. But in my day if you let the nose drop during a botched landing it could easily result in a serious life threatening head or neck injury.

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