Flying machine loses balance as people block landing path

Mysuru:  Para motoring, the Winter Festival’s most popular event has been cancelled, disappointing hundreds of tourists. Reason: The damage caused to the flying machine due to some negligent persons who blocked the smooth landing of the paramotor that led to an accident.

The event was organised by District Administration and Department of Tourism as part of promotion of adventure sports. Permission was granted to Bangalore Aviation and Sports Enterprise to conduct the event after taking all necessary permissions from aviation department.

The Administration laid special stress on the event as it had received huge response from adventure buffs in this year’s Dasara celebrations. Para motoring was inaugurated on Dec. 22 at Maharaja’s College Grounds and it was to end on Jan. 1.

Now due to the incident, the event has been cancelled and tourists are forced to return from the Grounds since the last two days.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Kumar from Bangalore Aviation and Sports Enterprise said that on Wednesday (Dec. 26) while on a practice flying session, the pilot of the para motor was attempting to land the machine. “During the landing, the pilot saw a group of people (ground staff) standing on the landing path, blocking its way. To avoid the people, the pilot steered the machine to one side and in the process, the para motor lost balance and crash-landed, damaging its motor and fan,” he said.

Soon after the incident, Kumar informed Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar who directed the even to be cancelled as there was a technical snag and safety issue. “Fortunately, no one sustained injuries. As spare parts are not available in Mysuru, we have ordered them from Bengaluru and we will start operations as soon as we receive the parts and after taking approval from the DC,” Kumar added.

The two-seater glider (one for the pilot and one for the passenger) can take a person on an 8-minute ride to have a glimpse of Mysuru city for a price of  Rs. 2,000. One can fly up to 6,000 ft high depending on air flow conditions.

Follow Star of Mysore on Instagram www.instagram.com/starofmysore