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One man was killed and two other individuals were critically injured after a mid-air collision involving a hang glider and paragliders at Salt Lake County Flight Park on Tuesday (October 17), KSL-TV reports.
Joshua Ellison, 44, of Draper, Utah, was identified as the paraglider killed in the accident. The male pilot of the hang glider was previously released at the scene, but hospitalized on Wednesday (October 18) due to severe injuries. Authorities and first responders arrived at the scene after 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Draper Police Lt. Mike Elkins.
"There had been an unfortunate mid-air collision involving a paraglider carrying two individuals and a hang glider," Elkins told KSL-TV.
The male and female paragliders were located at the scene by officers and described as being badly injured.
Elkins said the man appeared to be "in very poor shape and "succumbed to his injuries" before "LifeFlight landed." The woman was transported to Intermountain Medical Center due to what were described as critical injuries.
"I know these individuals are very passionate about what they do," Elkins said via KSL-TV. "They have a system down, so this is very unfortunate."
"My heart goes out to them," Elkins added. "I can't imagine the difficulty that the family is feeling as well as the hang gliding community here to have someone have that happen to them doing what they love."