There was a parachute deployment involving a very experienced local pilot at the Dump with the pilot landing about 2/3 of the way up the cliff near the upper (easterly) end of the Walker Ridge. He was sore but basically uninjured. The pilot stated he did a ‘helicopter’ and the glider underwent some radical maneuvers of its own when he attempted to exit the helicopter. Being pretty low at this point he elected to deploy his reserve. At risk of stating the obvious, aerobatics are best done with LOTS of ground clearance both vertically & horizontally and over still water such as a lake and, of course, should not be attempted with out professional training. 

There was a helicopter rescue off of the Westlake cliff face. My information here isn’t complete and although I think the information is reasonably accurate I haven’t confirmed all the facts. Reportedly the wind at the end of the day had turned southerly and several pilots were scratching close on the Westlake cliffs. It is unknown to me if the pilot suffered a collapse due to rotor or simply hit the cliff. In any event he ended up on the cliff face near Avalon canyon and slightly above the old highway. He was uninjured but unable to extricate himself. The Daly City Fire Department was called and they tried to get down to him but their lines/cables were reportedly not long enough. The Coast Guard was called and they winched him up and deposited him in the parking lot. His glider remained on the cliff face for a couple of days and was reportedly retrieved by a couple of guys. I assume one of which was the pilot. The canopy had been blown around by the helicopter and possibly later winds and must have moved to a more accessible position in order for them to get to it. As I see it, the big lesson here is don’t scratch too close especially in cross winds and always try to watch the cliff and visualize how the rotors come off the ‘fingers’. The cliff slid quite a bit this last winter and is much more jagged and producing larger stronger rotors than before.  It is also much steeper in places than before and this combined with lots of moisture in the sandstone makes it more prone to sliding and giving way underfoot. Attempting to climb or descend on is very hazardous, much more so than in the past. Also this incident occurred very late in the day when it was almost dark. The degrading visibility might have contributed to the incident and certainly makes rescue efforts more difficult. 

Around the same time as the above incident there was a bizarre stunt gone wrong at Tam requiring a rescue by the Stinson Beach Volunteer Fire Department and the park ranger’s involvement. Four pilots of unknown ratings/licenses who weren’t signed in ad as far as we can tell did not have stickers were flying the mountain illegally. At least two of them and possibly all four were from out of the area and possibly one might have been from France. Two pilots were flying solo and the other two were flying tandem. The tandem pilot and passenger were flying out over the LZ area whereupon the passenger would cut loose and deploy his parachute and glide down. From witness descriptions I’m guessing this was a base jumping rig. They were successful the first two times, but on the third attempt the ‘base jumper’ ended up short landing in the swamp between Highway 1 and the parking lot. He was unable to extricate himself & had to be rescued by the Fire Department. For those of you not familiar with the site, the swamp consists of black primal ooze-like mud that’s very deep. If one fell from any height at all one probably could submerge oneself. From reports I have received from the rangers and witnesses statements these pilots were aware of the rules and sign-in requirements and even told a witness not to tell anybody what they were doing. At this writing the rangers are considering citing the pilot who had to be rescued and the BAPA executive committee is actively investigating the incident and considering what action should be taken.  

There is no excuse for this kind of stunt & blatant disregard for the sensitivity of the site and the rights of the pilots who do fly there, both paraglider and hang glider pilots. We do make every effort to accommodate visiting pilots and in fact, I personally was working from home that day and could have met these individuals and issued them stickers. I would have nixed the ‘base jump’ idea of course, but probably that was why they decided to just sneak off. I took a somewhat lengthy call from the state park ranger that evening and while the conversation was cordial, this obviously makes it seem like we can’t regulate and control ourselves. I would also like to remind everybody that the Stinson Beach Volunteer Fire Department is just that. When they get a call they have to run out of their businesses and jobs to respond to a call. Needless to say they aren’t happy when this happens especially if it was for something that shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place. 

That’s all for this month. 

Fly safely! 

Wally Anderson

BAPA Safety Director