Paraglider Crashes Through Church's Roof Minutes Before Sunday Service
A Utah man died on Sunday after the motorized paraglider he was piloting spiraled out of control and caused him to crash and fall through the roof of a Mormon church right before worship service was about begin.
According to local police, 57-year-old Jim Petersen crashed his paraglider into the roof of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel on E. Traverse Loop Drive in Draper, Utah, a town about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City.
The Latter-day Saints-owned Deseret News reports that emergency crews responded to the crash around 8:55 a.m., just five minutes before the start of the church's 9 a.m. service.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Witnesses explained that they saw Petersen's hang glider chute had collapsed, which caused Peterson to spin out of control and spiral downward before crashing into the roof of the church.
According to local news station KUTV, a response unit tried to rescue Peterson from the roof. However, Petersen had already perished by the time the rescue crew had reached him.
After the crash, the church was evacuated and the remaining events and services scheduled at the church that day were canceled.
Steve Howlett, Petersen's friend and paragliding buddy of more than three years, told The Associated Press that he was with Petersen earlier in the day when they both took off in their separate paragliders from the same launch spot.
"We got separated, I had to turn back before he came back," Howlett explained. "So, I came back and landed at the spot. I sent a message out asking if he had got back OK and didn't get the response to that."
"Witness accounts were that he was spiraling first and looked like he was out of control when he came in," Howlett continued.
Howlett further explained that Petersen usually flies with a reserve parachute.
"I know he had that reserve parachute today because I saw it," Howlett added. "I took note of it when we took off."
According to Deseret News, Howlett said Petersen was no stranger to paragliding because he flew about 200 days out of the year. Howlett believes that there is a possibility that Petersen passed out before he was able to pull his reserve parachute.
"He was spinning quite rapidly which creates a huge amount of G-force," Howlett told KUTV. "To make a hole that small and that defined, that indicates a lot of downward speed."
Police officials explained to The Associated Press that although paragliding accidents are not unusual in that area, fatal ones are a bit of a rarity.
"Right at that point of the mountain is obviously where the best hang gliding in the state, sometimes people say in the nation, occur," Draper Police Sgt. Chad Carpenter told the AP. "We do respond to quite a few accidents here and there — some of them crashing up against the mountains and things. But for the most part, they are pretty safe."
The cause of Petersen's crash has not yet been officially determined. However, police say that it is possible that the cause of the crash could be a device malfunction or an issue with Petersen's health condition.
Although his friend may now be dead, Howlett rejoices in the fact that Petersen died doing what he enjoyed.
"He went out doing what he loved to do," Deseret News quoted Howlett as saying. "He truly loved this sport."
