There was a fatal flying accident on Thursday in the Sierra de Loja area involving a paragliding enthusiast in his mid 60s.

The 65-year-old was well known within his paragliding fraternity, who knew him as ‘Pepe de Algaidas’ as he was from Villanueva de Algaidas (Málaga).

He had a normal take off but his companions soon realised that something was up as he had completely disappeared from view and failed to reappear.

They phoned the emergency services because his mobile phone was ringing but he was not answering.

The Guardia Civil organised a search party, utilising drones equipped with thermal imaging. Their mountain-rescue team was also involved. However, with night closing in they still hadn’t located him.

They began the search again at first light and by 10.00h on Friday his body was found in an abrupt area known as the Charco del Negro. The Grupo de Rescate e Intervención en Montaña (GREIM) brought his body in.

It was decided because of this fatal accident to suspend the planned XXII Concentración de Vuelo Libre de Loja, which was to take place this weekend, out of respect for the victim and his family.

The authorities are now investigating the incident to try to find out what had caused him to crash and die as soon as the autopsy report comes through to establish the time and cause of death.

It is possible that he might have suffered a stroke are heart attack soon after taking off, rather than died as a result of the impact.

(News: Loja, Poniente, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Paragliding, Fatal Accident, Pepe de Algaidas, Body Found, Drones, Infra-Red Imagery, Autopsy

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