LIHU‘E — Though he has not yet been identified by name, a 24-year-old man from O‘ahu died Saturday afternoon while paragliding over Kalalau Valley, states a county press release. The man was with three other paragliders atop a ridge in
LIHU‘E — Though he has not yet been identified by name, a 24-year-old man from O‘ahu died Saturday afternoon while paragliding over Kalalau Valley, states a county press release.
The man was with three other paragliders atop a ridge in Koke‘e State Park near Kalalau Lookout around 12:30 p.m. preparing to paraglide down Kalalau Valley and land on Kalalau Beach.
The others jumped off and reached their destination as planned, but the fourth man’s paraglider apparently malfunctioned, causing him to fall onto jagged rocks about 600 feet below the Kalalau Lookout.
The others in the group became concerned when their fellow paraglider did not arrive at Kalalau Beach, so one of them paddled to Ke‘e Beach to notify authorities, the release states.
When the paddler arrived at Ke‘e Beach, he informed a Kaua‘i Fire Department Ocean Safety Bureau lifeguard about the situation, and the lifeguard then contacted the Kaua‘i Police Department.
Kaua‘i Fire Department rescue specialists from the Lihu‘e station flew into Kalalau in a rescue helicopter to investigate, gathered information from the other paragliders at Kalalau Beach, then returned to the air and located the 24-year-old man on the side of a cliff.
Two of the rescue specialists were long-lined in with a Stokes litter and, upon arrival, found that the O‘ahu man had apparently fallen to his death.
The man’s body was retrieved and flown to Princeville Airport.
