Powered hang glider crash lands, starts Malibu fire

dhmartens · Post by **dhmartens** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:11 am

I'm watching this story streaming on CNN/KCAL. The helicopter shows the fire is out. Thats all the information I can see.

Doug

http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-hang-glid ... ?track=rss
I found the story here. The Pilot is ok.

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:50 pm

Dol !

abinder · Post by **abinder** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:22 pm

hmmmmmmmmmmm.............

it appears that they show the 'debri' of the crash in the video and it appears to be from a powered paraglider, not hang glider.
(sure wish that news agencies would get their stories right)

dhmartens · Post by **dhmartens** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:25 pm

Your right. I just saw the video now posted on that page and its definitely a gas paraglider motor. I wish the news was more accurate. I saw this French electric Soaring paraglider motor:

http://www.razeebuss.com/machine.html

The safety cage is streamlined and it has a folding prop. I doubt the electric engine would start a brush fire.

Anyway its amazing how fast and professional the California firefighters are. They got the fire out at only 1/4 acre. I wonder if they are using a thermal satellite.

Doug

JD · Post by JD » Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:45 pm

Yeah, I also saw this nonsense in this morning's Los Angeles Times and guessed it was a PPG: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 8932.story

MALIBU
Hang glider crash causes brush fire

A man using a motorized hang glider crashed Wednesday near Malibu Bluffs State Park, suffering burns and sparking a quarter-acre brush fire, authorities said.

The incident was reported about 11:10 a.m. near Malibu Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway, directly above the park, said Inspector Frank Garrido of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

About 50 firefighters extinguished the blaze in about an hour, he said. Paramedics treated the man at the scene for second-degree burns, but he was not hospitalized.

"The report was a brush fire, not a hang glider crash," Garrido said. "We do get calls on hang gliders that do crash in the Palos Verdes area or are reported missing, so that's not uncommon. . . . But this one's rare because the hang glider was motorized, which was the main factor responsible for the fire."

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

KNBC Photo.........