At 3:45 p.m. Sunday, Capital City Fire and Rescue responded to a paraglider on Mount Roberts who reportedly lost lift and fell approximately 50 feet to the ground.
“Reports were that half of his paraglider collapsed,” CCFR Fire Chief Richard Etheridge said.
CCFR responded with 10 department members from a medical crew, special teams crew and a medevac crew. The ground team was dispatched up the tram to evaluate and package the patient, a local man in his mid-30s. One of the paraglider’s fellow flyers had the man out of his harness when rescue personnel arrived.
Etheridge said the man complained of pains in his side and as a precautionary measure he was placed in a cervical collar and on a backboard.
A Temsco Helicopter and medevac removed the man from the mountain a few hundred feet from Father Brown’s Cross. He was transported to Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment of his injuries. The entire operation took approximately two hours from the time of the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration distinguishes where paragliders can operate within the city limits and surrounding areas.
According to Etheridge paragliding is not illegal from Mount Roberts and many flyers land along Thane Road by Alaska Marine Lines or in the AML entrance roads themselves.
• Contact reporter Klas Stolpe at 523-2263 or at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
Comments (9)
Add commentIt's Not Always Nice To Defy Gravity
It's usually pretty much a one sided argument when one chooses to debate with gravity. Hope the guy fares well and recovers soon. Kudos to CCFR and all involved in another successful rescue!
Shut up
@Newo
WOW!
I'm not sure what MacNamara's problem is with what was posted by Newo. I'm glad the person is ok and once again good job to those that helped in the transport and care of the individual.
There will be one more trip to Bartlett for this guy...
Wait until he gets the bill for being hauled off the mountain via helicopter! ha, ha, this guy will most likely go immediately into cardiac arrest! He could have just as easily walked off the mountain rather than paying $10,000 for the "help." If you think an ambulance ride is expensive you would be SHOCKED to find out how much it costs for someone to get "assistance" from all of the agencies that converge upon this kind of incident.
@mpshake: nowhere does it
@mpshake: nowhere does it indicate he could have just walked off the mountain. Even if he could have, it's possible the impact could have caused internal injuries without his knowing. The same thing happens to whiplash victims in automobile accidents.
You also don't have to pay for your rescue.
Way to look at what's really important, though. We all know it's not about human life or injury or any of that, but dollars.
yup
" You also don't have to pay for your rescue"
Well said rodent, of course not after all why would our socialist society expect accountability from the individual. Move along now nothing to look at here.
some of you are pathetic
Never mind that the individual involved was medic-vaced to Seattle and will/has undergone six hours of surgery. In the old days people of Juneau CARED about the person who was injured and showed genuine concern. The person involved in this accident is from a long time Juneau family. It's sad to read some of these comments.
Care
@AuroraVista, Unfortunately Juneau residents (a lot of imports) are here now and are bringing the negative attitude from the outside, very sad. I was born and raised here and you're right, people used to Care more.
I'm not aware of who is injured, but our thoughts and healing prayers are being sent their way.
He was lucky to get out of it
He was lucky to get out of it alive. Why does someone has to get hurt before someone to take precautionary measures? Those who allowed paragliding in the area are partly to blame for what happened. On my last trip I had a similar accident, I didn't cause it but still I got hurt. I was lucky to have personal injury attorneys Louisiana to rely on, my condition wasn't that good so I had them to stand up for my rights.