fatal injury in Malibu

[bilsalak]

There was a fatal paragliding related injury today at Corral Canyon in Malibu. There is very little information about this online and almost none being reported thus far from the offline news outlets.

Does anyone know anything about this ?

Bill

[Ron M]

Here is a snippet from the LA Times. Not much in the way of info though...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 6386.story

[Kelly S]

I got this email today, But still do not know who the pilot was.

Apparently, the latest from the coroner's office is that he had a heart attack before he hit the hillside.

Sad day ;(

[MikeP]

I spoke with the LA County Coroner's office this afternoon. They hadn't made notification of next of kin yet, but they did say he was in his 40s and from LA.
More here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 6386.story
"Investigators said the victim was a student of a local Malibu paragliding teacher".
Joe Greblo: "Components of the accident had to do with a partial collapse, and the pilot was of limited experience..."

[bilsalak]

In the interest of helping pilots fly safely at Corral and with all due respect to the pilot and friends & family of the pilot I would like to point out the placement of the downed pilot and wing in the video. From the position that the pilot went down it would appear that he likely flew into an area known to produce rotor in the same conditions which make Corral flyable. This depression in the hill is known as "the hole" and can be seen more clearly in this Google satellite image http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=corral+canyon,+malibu&ie=UTF8&ll=34.035969,-118.741608&spn=0.005406,0.01133&t=h&z=17

The first time I flew Corral I was give a site briefing which included a stern warning to never fly into "the hole". It is however, common to see pilots skirt this area to purposely lose altitude during a top landing. I'm not qualified to say that this should never be done by an experienced pilot who understands the risk and factors at play, but I can tell you that I have gotten whacked flying too close to the hole and I've witnessed others taking collapses skirting this area. Based upon the placement of the pilot in the video it appears that he flew deeper into the hole than I personally consider safe.

In summary I should mention that when flying Corral the normal flight path is out front and well away from the terrain. This is a ridge soaring site on the ocean with a large landing area directly below the hill that you launch from. When this site is working it it possible to fly several hundred yards away from the hill and still return to the lift with enough altitude to work back up and over the top. The locals consider this a very safe and tame place to fly, however there are a few considerations which should be conveyed in a site briefing.

Bill

[Don F]

Another important factor at this site is that the winds typically get stronger and more west in the afternoon, which would make avoiding rotor near the hole even more important. This took place at 3:40pm which may be irrelevant if he did have a heart attack in flight. Sad news indeed.

Don Frick

[oj]

Due in part to the recent fatality in Malibu, the governing powers have given notice to all powered and free-flight enthusiasts that all flying activity within the domain of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is prohibited. The following is a description of the affected area taken from the SMMC website.

"The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy zone covers an area from the edge of the Mojave Desert to the Pacific Ocean. The zone encompasses the whole of the Santa Monica Mountains, the Simi Hills, the Verdugo Mountains and significant portions of the Santa Susana and San Gabriel Mountains. In addition, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority also owns or manages thousands of acres in the Sierra Pelona Mountains and in the Whittier-Puente Hills. From north to south, these areas drain into the Santa Clara River, Calleguas Creek, numerous smaller coastal watersheds in the Santa Monica Mountains, and the Los Angeles River and Rio Hondo."

I am attaching a letter sent to the Malibu Paragliding Club. Due to the sensitive nature of this issue and with respect to the family of the deceased, I ask that no comments be posted here concerning the Malibu Paragliding Club, it's operator, or any MPC members. John Kloer.

http://www.malibusurfsidenews.com/blog_news_alert/

[glenny]

this is a rather disturbing chain of events.... lots of questions too such as which sites this affects??? where exactly is the conservations land??? where are all the malibu pilots going to fly and learn paragliding??? what effect will this have on other sites??? Is there some reconsilation with the comservatory??? and other questions...
this topic is certainly worth more discussion

glenny

[Ben H]

I agree with Glenn on how disturbing and frustrating this situation is. I can somewhat understand the Conservancy prohibiting "powered" paragliding but it is truly upsetting banning free flight. Isn't there some way for USHPA to step in. These are just my thoughts on this as I have never flown in Malibu and don't know any history behind the sites. Why is the reaction by the Conservancy so harsh? Is it a liability stance? I highly doubt they or any other entities would outlaw hiking or mountain biking if one was to die pursuing those sports. So why should we be treated any different?

[Dean S]

Glenny,
I'm sure flying activity will be quiet in Malibu for awhile since it will be under the microscope for some time, however, I would assume flying will resume when the dust settles. From the way I'm reading it the conservancy has never allowed flying from their property, pilots have simply been trespassing for some time. Their strong position is based on liability issues so they are making the rules clear through their recent statements. In the past, as long as there weren't any problems or complaints I'm assuming the conservancy turned a blind eye in areas that weren't heavily patrolled or adjacent to communication towers.

This was the case at the Desoto site near the Doppler radar. The property is owned by the Santa Monica Conservancy and was patrolled by a ranger. Several of us had conversations with the ranger and it was explained to us that flying activities were prohibited in all conservancy property but would be overlooked at the Desoto site if we would be respectful of the residents and their property. Of course, word got out about the site, activity increased, and incidents occurred which shut down the site. A couple years back Bo, Ron M. and myself were booted off conservancy property in the mountains near Ave. S. That site had several communication towers and was patrolled heavily by rangers. We were only there 30 minutes or so before we got caught and was told to leave.

The conservancy has a lot of property spread throughout LA county, but Malibu and the site near Ave. S are the only flying areas that appear to be affected. Here’s a link to the conservancy website that shows a map of the park areas.

http://www.lamountains.com/parks_search.asp

We may not like the policies and rules of the conservancy, but their views towards pilots seem to be negative due to the liability and its doubtful those views will change soon. We all love to see dogs roaming free and playing – until they crap on our lawn! (love that visual) It’s very possible that after the mess is cleaned up some good neighboring takes place, the blind eye of the conservancy may be turned once again in Malibu – we can only hope.

Where will Malibu pilots go to fly? I don’t think this is a big concern, there are plenty of schools and flying sites outside of Malibu just like there was before Malibu was an option.

[MikeP]

The LA County Coroner's office has identified the pilot as Jonathan Lang­behn, cause of death: accidental.
More here: http://malibusurfsidenews.com/stories/2 ... 14006.html

MM

[Doug G]

Seems like the Conservancy is frustrated with the actions of a single school or small group of people. Hopefully this won't adversely affect too many others.

http://www.malibusurfsidenews.com/blog_news_alert/

[oj]

Seems like the Conservancy is frustrated with the actions of a single school or small group of people.

As we all know, the non-flying community paints with a broad brush. There is no distinction between this club and that club, nor do they care if the pilot is hang or para. What affects one of us, affects all of us. Some inroads to the Malibu Conservancy made be possible in the future, but with this accident fresh in their minds it isn't going to happen anytime soon.

[MikeP]

He sounds like someone I would like to have known: http://www.topix.com/forum/city/malibu- ... M5MMNAM4I4 and http://www.jakelangbehnslife.com/
For more facts: http://malibusurfsidenews.com/stories/2 ... 14006.html

MM

[glenny]

the above are very touching... thanks for those links

i have always believed in paragliding it is important to learn from others mistakes (thus not making them ourselves). is there any incident report on this accident? since it seems like it wasn't a heart attack it would be important to get a truthfull accounting so that others may not make the same errors if the site is ever open in the future.

glenny