[wingspan33]

I feel very badly for all those who have died flying paragliders. I also hope that my own personal words or actions may have stopped someone from trying or continuing to fly paragliders.

But paragliders kill more than simply the people hanging below them.

How many more hang glider pilots would there be if paragliding ended or had never begun?

So, paragliding has "killed" hang glider pilots as well. It has killed those who ended up never trying hang gliding (because of paragliding).

It has also killed the aviation spirit in individuals who, thinking that paragliding is safer than hang gliding, quit flying PGs because of how truly dangerous they are, then never gave hang gliding a chance. Why? Because they have been told hang gliding is even worse.

Paragliding has killed hang glider pilots - by killing paragliding participants who would otherwise have been fly the safer aircraft known as hang gliders.

And those who promote paragliding are knowingly acting to kill the sport of hang gliding. To what purpose? To sell something that makes them more profit and is superficially easier to teach to the unknowing.

The paragliding companies' best customer, . . . ? . . . the naive, the trusting, the impressionable, the innocent, the uninformed. Otherwise know as "children". No matter their age.

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[Rick Masters]

So many hang glider pilots are feeding paragliding it is like a form of autosarcophagy.

[wingspan33]

Your symbolism is dead on Rick! (pun intended and not)

But I think hang gliding leadership, back in the early 1990s, (perhaps not realizing it ) invited a small group of the living dead (collapsible canopy occupants) into our association. Soon these living dead began to feed on us hang glider pilots and our organization.

But it's time to create a new movie/story. It goes this way -

Paraglider pilots begin discovering an odd mold/fungus in their tightly packed thin nylon canopies (the dacron that makes up hang glider sails does not support the mold/fungus). One by one - but very quickly - paraglider pilots world wide are infected. They become zombie like creatures. But (inspired by your above post) begin to devour themselves - not innocent by standers. Of course the compulsion to begin eating themselves is triggered only after they launch (like lemmings) from the closest hill or mountain. The public is horrified as bits of body parts fall from the sky for no apparent reason, UNTIL, . . . (sorry you've got to wait for the movie to come out )

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[Rick Masters]

April 3, 2018 India
The condition of the 11-year-old boy from Bhowanipore — Vivyaan Ojha — who was injured while paragliding at Gangtok on Tuesday has improved. Though he was still admitted in the ICU, his father said that the boy was better.
“He has multiple injuries, including in his ribs and pelvic bones. But he is responding to the treatment and his condition is stable now,” said Vivyaan’s father Sanjeev.
A student at St Xavier’s Collegiate School, Vivyaan loves to play tennis and has always been fond of adventure sports.
“He is never afraid of such sports. In fact, he was quite jolly and was waving at me while they were gliding,” he said, adding: “It is difficult to conclusively say what caused the incident. He was a trained pilot and there could have been several reasons for such incidents when the glider is in the air.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/sikkim-paraglider-crash-kolkata-boy-still-in-icu/articleshow/63621004.cms
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The commercial operator who was taking the child for a joyride for money was killed.

[wingspan33]

At least the tandem operator won't be endangering any more children. And the young man has a story to tell about how dangerous paragliders are.

[Rick Masters]

[wingspan33]

I watched the above video and I think, . . . I have no worries about the canopy collapsing, and I have no worries about the tow rig creating complications. I see a young lady experiencing a wonderful flight on a hang glider. Of course, I still worry about a minor being injured or killed on a tandem ride on a hang glider (or under different circumstances, a PG). But this video demonstrates how things can work right out right.

One thing I would mention is that I do not agree with doing (even mild) aerobatics with a tandem passenger on board. Which is done in the video. I've had a tandem rating and NEVER did mild or moderate aerobatics during tandem flights. The object is not to scare/thrill your passenger. The object is to teach them about how to operate a hang glider and to learn about the amazing features and opportunities that come along with the sport of hang gliding.

[Rick Masters]

That take off made me cringe, Mom.