Two pilots died in a midair collision on Saturday when their paragliders came together during a race in Macedonia. One of the pilots, Innes Powell, was well known in the hang gliding and paragliding community in the U.K. and was taking part in the British Open Paragliding Competition in Kusevo, Macedonia. The other pilot, Ukrainian Igor Volov, was not involved in the competition.
The two paragliders collided while in the same thermal and managed to separate before they collided a second time. Powell’s reserve parachute did not deploy and he fell to a path below. He died from his injuries after being taken to a hospital. Volov managed to open his backup chute but died at the scene after landing in a tree. The British Open is one of the largest paragliding competitions in the world.
