Paraglider in stable condition after crash

A learner-paraglider who suffered serious injuries when he crashed into a cliff face yesterday afternoon is in a stable condition.

The man, who had been having a lesson with an instructor, was making a solo descent at 3.30pm when he hit a cliff face about 40m below the summit of Te Mata Peak near Havelock North.

Firefighters and paramedics abseiled down the mountain to reach the man, and two members of the public who had climbed down to help him.

He was taken to Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital by helicopter with a broken leg and other injuries.

The helicopter returned to the summit to rescue a member of the public and a firefighter who had been left stuck on the cliff in the dark.

The pair were winched to safety.

A spokeswoman for Hawke's Bay District Health Board said today the man was in a stable condition.

Hastings police said the matter had been handed over to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for investigation.

The accident was witnessed by Mary Flux and her family.

Mrs Flux said the paraglider waited for about five minutes for a change in wind direction, then took a few steps back as his parachute began to inflate.

As he jumped, his canopy deflated.

"It's quite horrible for us to see. It makes your stomach turn really."

Another witness, Auckland woman Carol Harding, said she watched the paraglider set up and prepare to take off. But after the paraglider briefly became airborne, it disappeared from sight.

Miss Harding said she had been talking to the man before his ill-fated jump.

He had told her he was still learning, and Miss Harding said he seemed quite confident.

It was a different story after the accident, she said.

"I would say he was rather traumatised."

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY, NZPA