A paraglider was airlifted to hospital yesterday evening, Tuesday 25th June, after crashing onto playing fields near the Lansdown Park & Ride in Bath.
The Wiltshire Air Ambulance in flight | Photo © Martin Hibberd / Shutterstock.com
The man is believed to have been flying over the west of the city when he came down on the Lansdown Playing Fields shortly after 9pm.
Multiple emergency services, including the police helicopter and Wiltshire Air Ambulance, attended the scene.
The man was treated by critical care paramedics, with assistance from fire crews, and he was airlifted to Southmead’s Major Trauma Centre in Bristol at around 11pm.
One resident, who saw a pair of paragliders, reported seeing one of them “fall out of the sky”.
A spokesperson for Avon Fire & Rescue Service said: “Crews from Bath were called just before 10pm last night (Tuesday 25th June) to reports of a power glider accident near Charlcombe, Bath.
“Crews rescued one person who was treated by ambulance at the scene and transported to hospital.”
Avon & Somerset Police said they were called at 9.20pm to reports of the crash, and that the pilot has suffered “significant injuries”. It confirmed the incident had been reported to the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association for investigation.
A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) told the Bath Echo: “We sent an air ambulance, hazardous area response team, rapid response team, and a double-crewed land ambulance to the scene of the incident and conveyed one patient by air ambulance to Southmead Hospital.”
