Paraglider Ditches In Lake Rescued By Police Helicopter

"Chris Clarke" (shiftsandgiggles)
07/14/2014 at 14:48 • Filed to: planelopnik, mad props

This paraglider's engine quits during a sightseeing flight over Folsom Lake in California. Watch as the pilot frantically struggles to restart the engine and ultimately splashes down. Lucky for the pilot, there was a local police helicopter training in the vicinity which turned into a real life rescue scenario.

Kudos to the pilot who was equipped with a portable radio, floatation device and acted promptly and decisively in a stressful situation.

DISCUSSION (52)

scoob > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 14:07

Kinja'd!!!

That was great, such a quick response from the police!

Also I like how he pulls out his phone and it still works haha.

Jayhawk Jake > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 14:12

I like that he first tells the rescue swimmer that he'll just catch a ride on a boat, then when the jetskis show up and offer a ride he goes 'psh, well I'm going to take the helicopter if you're offering'

boo-gotti > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 15:44

Did he say, "ugh....not again!" ???

Mpusch > boo-gotti
07/14/2014 at 15:48

I thought I heard that too. Haha.

NeedSSpeed > boo-gotti
07/14/2014 at 15:48

Why yes, yes he did. I was going to say this guy was really prepared and handled the situation well. Almost like he's experienced it before.....

dmat > boo-gotti
07/14/2014 at 15:49

yep, at least that time he prepared with those yellow floaties now attached to his paraglider.

Oscar T Grouch > boo-gotti
07/14/2014 at 15:51

I heard that and had to go back and listen again. Generally in aviation when you get lucky once you dont get lucky again. Maybe the guy will learn his lesson, what ever it might be, this time.

PatrickPM > scoob
07/14/2014 at 15:53

Ha!

mbcoffey > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 15:59

Why did he give the jet-skier his phone?

Maxzillian > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 16:03

Sudden rise in engine speed before stalling suggests to me that it had a fuel delivery problem. Any two stroke I've been around (and some four strokes) have always behaved this way when the fuel delivery failed (empty tank, carburetor problem, etc).

IDRIVENEON > scoob
07/14/2014 at 16:10

galaxy s5 is totally waterproof.

Gloff > scoob
07/14/2014 at 16:10

It's a Galaxy 5, water resistant to 3 meters. The Capacitive touchscreen was giving him fits with all the water though.

Kaufmania: Mark Webber's Stunt Double > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 16:12

excessive? Just hop on the Yamaha. I would prefer a Sea-Doo personally.

Kaufmania: Mark Webber's Stunt Double > scoob
07/14/2014 at 16:13

samsung galaxy 5/

DatBomb > Jayhawk Jake
07/14/2014 at 16:21

Thought he'd have enough airtime for one day.

teeheehee > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 16:22

1:20 "uuuugh, not again"

THIS HAPPENED MORE THAN ONCE?!

davedave1111 > Oscar T Grouch
07/14/2014 at 16:22

Seemed pretty risk free to me, really. Fairly low over water, with a way to contact the shore and a ride back a few minutes away.

MrMcQueen > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 16:23

Cool video, great exercise for the police. But he stayed hella calm when the crap hit the fan! Just calmly and efficiently unstraps himself and gets prepared!

RedHotFuzz > scoob
07/14/2014 at 16:24

Knowing Samsung, a shameless promotional stunt like this would not be beneath them...

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > MrMcQueen
07/14/2014 at 16:27

Best way to improve chances of surviving most aircraft emergency landings, stay calm.

kayldera > MrMcQueen
07/14/2014 at 16:27

He said: "Not again..." which means that he probably encountered that same situation in the past. Still, kudos to him for the nerves of steel.

HappyCamperB > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 16:28

I'm surprised he had a lake to land in:

Kinja'd!!!

jbmadness > boo-gotti
07/14/2014 at 16:29

uh, hello, this is God saying you need a new sport! That is all.

Nick Dina > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 16:35

Awesome. Who pays more for the rights? GoPro or Samsung?

Oscar T Grouch > davedave1111
07/14/2014 at 16:36

Oh I agree, Actually for paragliding and paramotoring being over water is the best place to learn. With that said crashing should not be an option and if you do there most likely was mistakes made. It is not that it is right or wrong it is more in how we look at these events. To many people it sounds like we are trying to point out what someone did wrong but in reality we all learn from each other, so we break it down and find out what mistakes were made.

davedave1111 > Oscar T Grouch
07/14/2014 at 16:43

Well, I'm not disagreeing, just pointing out that that's not really a crash. He appears to have been prepared for the eventuality, so going down in the water wasn't dangerous at all.

If he was flight-testing an engine or something, it's a very sensible place to be. Even if not, he wasn't risking anything - I dare say if he'd dumped everything (and was a reasonably strong swimmer) he could have made it to shore if he had to.

6SPD_soul, post pending > boo-gotti
07/14/2014 at 16:50

yeah, WTF. that's funny

Yourcommentisincrediblydumb > HappyCamperB
07/14/2014 at 16:56

Yeah, did you notice the launch the helicopter landed on? I was stunned to see how far away from the water it was. I didn't know it was THAT bad!

Donald D. Nicholas > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 17:06

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go to tech tab for work detail http://www.jobs700.com

DailyTurismo > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 17:24

I hear the chopper a comin'

It's rolling round the bend

And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when,

I'm stuck in Folsom lake,

and time keeps draggin' on

DailyTurismo > Nick Dina
07/14/2014 at 17:28

I'm guessing the paraglider dude is gonna need the youtube advertising cash if the rescue squad decides to send him a bill. Even a short trip like that can be a huge figure when you include the chopper costs.

funkymoves91 > mbcoffey
07/14/2014 at 17:28

He said it : so that he can call the phone. I believe the jetski riders offered to pull the paraglider back to the shore...

scoob > IDRIVENEON
07/14/2014 at 17:33

Yup, I know.

EvilFD > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 17:43

All this makes me wanna do is go paragliding!

Jon > Nick Dina
07/14/2014 at 18:01

Samsung. Everyone knows GoPros can handle some water; I had no idea the Galaxy 5 was waterproof until now.

Jon > Yourcommentisincrediblydumb
07/14/2014 at 18:02

I was wondering why the heck they were taking him so far from the water. Turns out that's the nearest parking lot...

titsinmymitts > DailyTurismo
07/14/2014 at 18:20

Eh, I don't think they will. They were in the area anyways.

titsinmymitts > MrMcQueen
07/14/2014 at 18:21

In this case, the fan hit the lake.

scoob > Jon
07/14/2014 at 18:49

An increasing number of Android phones are either waterproof or water resistant .

I'd like to say my crap phone is snowproof because I remember dropping it face-first on the snow and to my surprise it still worked. Well, it's much slower now...

cogito ergo zoom > mbcoffey
07/14/2014 at 18:54

Uh why not just have the jet skiier give him a ride to shore?

cogito ergo zoom > Maxzillian
07/14/2014 at 18:55

Dude just ran out of gas. He's done it before.

cogito ergo zoom > HappyCamperB
07/14/2014 at 18:56

Pretty crazy huh?. I drive by there almost every day. I wish I'd have done a time lap of it going down.

wbizarre - OEM fetishist > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 19:05

Wait, why did the lake need rescuing?

Dsscats > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 19:41

This title needs more commas.

canikony > IDRIVENEON
07/14/2014 at 20:40

actually its water resistant... check the ratings.

canikony > Jon
07/14/2014 at 20:40

water resistant.

ghostlolol > scoob
07/14/2014 at 20:49

This is a good S5 commercial, if I was a marketing guy at samsung, I'd totally offer this person some money to just use this video as an ad!

John R. Clark > Chris Clarke
07/14/2014 at 21:55

kschang > Chris Clarke
07/15/2014 at 00:11

Technically, it's local sheriff's department helo. ;)

Jon > canikony
07/15/2014 at 09:34

Pedantic

SalamanderSmile > Chris Clarke
07/15/2014 at 11:10

THAT should be Samsung's newest ad.

drunkgeorge > Donald D. Nicholas
07/16/2014 at 16:05

Follow this link and you too can afford to go paragliding, and not be too concerned about ditching in a lake, as you can affford to fix it. It will be great, though you won't have too much time to do anything as you will be too busy making money! Sky (and gas) is the limit!