Daring Paragliders Rescued After Dramatic Crashes in Himachal Pradesh

Over the past 48 hours, rescue teams in Himachal Pradesh have been busy saving two foreign paragliders who crash-landed in the state's Bir-Billing region. On Sunday, a 36-year-old Austrian pilot named Philipp Zellner was airlifted to safety after his crash-landing near Rani Sui lake, situated at an altitude of around 4,000 metres close to Manali. Zellner was engaged in 'bivouac flying', a long-distance paragliding style where pilots camp in remote locations, when he suffered a spinal injury.

In a separate incident, a 70-year-old Russian woman paraglider, Bargman Rakel, crashed into a tree in the Dhauladhar mountains after taking off from Billing on Friday. She was rescued on Saturday by a search and rescue team from the Billing Paragliding Association, who trekked for eight hours to reach her at an altitude of around 3,000 metres.

These latest incidents are part of a troubling trend in the ongoing flying season at Bir-Billing, which has seen a number of paragliding crashes and even a fatality. Last month, a Canadian pilot named Megan Elizabeth, 27, died after crashing her paraglider in the Dhauladhar mountains. Two other foreign pilots were also rescued after going missing following takeoffs from Billing.