A 58-year-old pilot has died following a tandem paragliding crash in South Tyrol, the emergency services in the northern Italian tourist region said on Saturday.
A 29-year-old German female holidaymaker who was attached to the Italian pilot’s back for the flight was uninjured in the accident.
The crash occurred near a chairlift at an altitude of almost 2,000 metres on the Alpe di Siusi, the largest high-altitude alpine meadow in Europe. The man is thought to have suffered health problems after take-off and lost control of the glider, which collided with a tree.
Tandem flights with commercial operators are available in many places in South Tyrol, where paragliders fly with holidaymakers from mountainsides into the valleys.
The pilot was said to have been an experienced pilot from the Italian municipality of Castelrotto. As is customary in such cases, the police have launched an investigation.
The accident, which occurred on Friday at around 2:30 pm (GMT 1230), was witnessed by several eyewitnesses.
According to their accounts, immediately after take-off, the pilot suddenly steered his paraglider back towards the launch site before apparently losing control and hitting a tree. It was reported that he may have fainted before the impact.
The mountain rescue service arrived by helicopter but all resuscitation attempts proved unsuccessful.