Ravenshead mum dies in Spanish paragliding accident

Jennifer Lindsey, 38, from Ravenshead, was on holiday with her husband Paul and their two sons when the accident occurred in Ager, which is in the north eastern area of Spain.On October 29, 2016, Mrs Lindsey and her husband went paragliding with a female friend on the day she died.

They went to a popular site in Ager for paragliders, where there was a south westerly facing ridge with a rocky vertical drop.

Mr Lindsey gave a statement to police following the tragic incident, in which he explained that he went with his wife, who had over 60 hours of flying experience, and a friend to paraglide over Ager.

The inquest was told how both Mrs Lindsey and the friend had a significant amount of experience in paragliding.

They set off at midday and landed thirty minutes later, however Jennifer did not land with her husband and friend.

Mr Lindsey’s statement, which was read out at the hearing at Nottingham Council House today (Thursday, September 14), said the pair lost Jennifer from view and they waited for her to land elsewhere.

It is believed she carried on gliding near to the cliff face where there were more thermals, which are columns of air used by paragliders to help them fly.

The hearing was told how Mr Lindsey and the friend did not become worried until they spotted a helicopter circling the cliffs.

Catalan Police confirmed that at 5.30pm on October 29, 2016, there had been a flying accident involving a paraglider which had resulted in a death.

A statement from the force read out at the hearing said: “At 2.35pm, a call was received on the emergency telephone number reporting an accident saying the paraglider had fallen.

“A helicopter located the injured person but was unable to reach her because of the lay of the land.

“At 4pm members of the emergency services reached the location and attended to her injuries and took her to hospital. At 4.30pm she went into cardiac arrest. At 5.17pm she was pronounced dead.”

Coroner for Nottingham Mairin Casey returned a verdict of accidental death.

She said the circumstances have been fully investigated in Spain and in the UK by the British Hang Gliding Association.

She said: “She went hang gliding and tragically the outcome for her was fatal. The cause of death is consistent with traumatic hypovolemic shock. The medial cause of death is consistent with it being accidental.

“It seems to me that this is a tragic accident and accidental death is the conclusion that I return. All that remains for me to do is give my most sincerest condolences to Mr Lindsey and his family.”

A report by the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association confirmed how the tragic accident had occurred.

They stated: “Whilst on a ridge soaring flight in Ager, Spain, the pilot lost control of her paraglider in close proximity to the hillside. The pilot was unable to regain control before impacting the terrain, and sustained fatal injuries.

“Her emergency parachute was found out of her harness by the emergency services, although it is unclear whether it was in a fully deployed state. Her harness had abrasions and tears to the airbag impact pad area commensurate with a heavy landing on rough ground.”

Thank you to Nottingham Post