Gunship
31st Mar 2003, 21:00
Pretoria - A badly injured paraglider pilot had to be rescued by mountain climbers and a helicopter from a cliff-face near the Hartbeespoort cableway on Sunday evening, the Mountain Club of South Africa reported on Monday.
Club spokesperson Rob Thomas said the accident happened in the late afternoon when the pilot, John Meijer, 35, swerved to avoid colliding with another paraglider. He went into a spin, lost altitude fast and was unable to correct the problem before hitting the cliff face.
He fell down the cliff for some tens of metres until his canopy snagged, and ended up lying on a ledge with a number of fractures.
Bystanders and paramedics scrambled down to Meijer but could not move him, so the police, the SA Air Force and the Mountain Club rescue team were called in.
It soon became dark, said Thomas, but the rescue team reached Meijer with a stretcher and a doctor. An Air Force Oryx hovered over the cliff and illuminated the scene while Meijer was strapped to a stretcher.
Everyone on the ledge was then hoisted into the helicopter.
Meijer was taken to the Unitas Hospital in Centurion and on Monday he was transferred to the Pretoria East hospital, where he was reported to be in a stable condition.
Club spokesperson Rob Thomas said the accident happened in the late afternoon when the pilot, John Meijer, 35, swerved to avoid colliding with another paraglider. He went into a spin, lost altitude fast and was unable to correct the problem before hitting the cliff face.
He fell down the cliff for some tens of metres until his canopy snagged, and ended up lying on a ledge with a number of fractures.
Bystanders and paramedics scrambled down to Meijer but could not move him, so the police, the SA Air Force and the Mountain Club rescue team were called in.
It soon became dark, said Thomas, but the rescue team reached Meijer with a stretcher and a doctor. An Air Force Oryx hovered over the cliff and illuminated the scene while Meijer was strapped to a stretcher.
Everyone on the ledge was then hoisted into the helicopter.
Meijer was taken to the Unitas Hospital in Centurion and on Monday he was transferred to the Pretoria East hospital, where he was reported to be in a stable condition.