A champion hang glider was killed in a freak accident after colliding with a paraglider in midair over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday.
Two-time Brazilian hang-gliding champion Philip Eric Haegler, 59, was knocked off course by the collision, smashed into a building, and was knocked unconscious before falling 11 stories to his death, according to reports from local outlets.
Philip Eric Haegler, a two-time hang-gliding champion, died after a catastrophic paragliding crash in Brazil. Jam Press/São Conrado Free Flight ClubEmergency crews rushed to the scene but were unable to save the champion hang-glider.
The police told the local outlet they believed windy conditions were the cause of Haegler’s accident, not a crash with another paraglider.
Haegler was near landing when he collided with another paraglider in midair and smashed into a building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thusrday. RJTV
The champion hang-glider fell 11 stories to his death following the midair collision. RJTV
Haegler was 59. Jam Press/Valadares ParaglidingBut Bruno Menescal, president of São Conrado Free Flight Club, said the collision precipitated the fatal fall.
“We had a collision … which led to this incident,” Menescal said in Portuguese to G1 Globo.
Haegler was a close friend of Pedro Paulo Guise Carneiro Lopes, another famous Brazilian hang-glider, who tragically died in Japan during a tournament.
