Trying to make sense of this.  Nothing close to Fulshear to alert this pilot that there may be paragliders in the sky.  What am I missing Here?  Still chopping people up in 2021, come on man.

https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/paraglider-pilot-identified-fort-bend-county/285-5cab170a-3400-46f2-95b3-4463e251d1d4

Why would a para glider have to make a special notice to air mission? He isn't a sky diver.

them. you really think a note on a sectional would make any difference?

Since the Caravan pilot was IFR, he was most likely not using a Sectional chart and probably would not have been aware of any glider activity even if it was depicted on a chart. That said, he was up at 5,000' and who expects gliders (a paraglider, no less!) to be up that high over Texas? Is the solution maybe to have everything that operates in the national airspace system to have ADS-B?

who called this guy a wanna be pilot.

I fly with some of the best ppg pilots that have more skill in their lil pinky then you would ever have hitting that autopilot switch there bucko.

Show some respect.

I didn't know this dude personally but he could have been me or any of the fellas I fly with.  We cloud surf.  Yes it's stupid.  Yes it's a risk for a mid air with an IFR bird.  Not saying this is what happened but my guess is if they didn't see each other then they were proably both in the clouds, especially at 5k. 

I practice clear of clouds on 99% of my flying.  But I do get careless over Cypermort point from time to time when the occasional stray white puffy comes along and I've not seen any heli or plane traffic all day.  Playing next to a cloud is the most fun you can have with a paramotor.  It gives you a sensation of free flying that you can't get with any other form of flight.  I think it's the relative proximity to an object that shows your motion in relation to the object that get's the blood pumping.  Much like close ground prox flying does for some of the acro guys.  But it's much safer doing wingovers at 5k than 200 feet.

I used to post a lil hand written notam on the wall in the Cameron ops building when I was working from that base just to let you guys know I'd be flying low over the beach near the Rec center that day.  I didn't want to get smashed like a bug on your windscreen just as much as you didn't wanna hit me either.  A little bit goes a long way.

Not sure what the wx was doing the day this happened so don't know flying blind was even a factor, I can only assume it was. 

Anyway, Be safe out there folks, stay sharp, the sport is growing, we are training more and more guys to fly these things everyday.  So expect more stories like this in the news.  And Don't knock it till you try it.  You'll probably hang up flying for a living and start living to fly. 

it is a lot of fun to skateboard on streets and freeways too, but it's hazardous to all parties involved/present and it's not legal because of that.

It's tragic that the paraglider lost his life but it is a risk he accepted with his chosen sport. 

It is far more tragic that another individual was killed while he was just doing his job in a responsible manner.

in what manner the other pilot was operating.

I know he was at 5000 on an IFR flight plan... what insights can you add to that genius?

Makes sense now....you're a gulf pilot so you have to wear a paramotor to feel like you're worth something? Isn't pretending to be a pilot in the gulf good enough? Can you polish your shoulder medals while you're flying your dooshfan?

Show respect to your dumb post?? No thanks

Did you read your own message? 

Jackazz...your name suits you.

that most all Heli pilots have such small D energy that they would feel threatened by a guy flying a paramotor up at omg 5k......it's so crazy.

You idiots really do need to educate yourselves.  For your own sake.  You share the sky with paragliders now, deal with it.  You would think to learn all you can about a threat would be in your best interest.  But I guess ignorance is bliss.

I've gone to only 8k, and that was cold enough .  Most everyone I fly with has been higher.  5k is no big deal.  Actually you can get there from sea level in about 15 minutes if you are easy on the throttle with a moster 185 and only burn a liter to get there.  We carry 10 to 15 liters typical for a full tank on a motor....you do the math.  5k in the summer time is actually quite nice and a normal/typical altitude we go to to "cool" off from the heat or do acro runs. 

Most times you can cut the engine at that alt and just thermal.  That's right, thermal up to cloud base at 5k or even higher if you have the skills and know how to do it but cloud base is usually where I stop.  If it's a really poppin day with lots of vertical development I've had friends core cells from base right up to 10k. 

Paragliding is huge Overseas and is just starting to get a real foothold here in the states since about 4 years ago.  You may find it interesting to read up on the story of a gal who got cloud suck and spit out the top of a super cell half alive and frozen to death/just about, who holds the world record now for highest flight.....by accident

Just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

I don't have a problem with anybody flying anything up to whatever altitude they can get. But to do that on the edge of Class Bravo airspace without a transponder or ADSB doesn't make sense. No, 5,000 feet is not that high, but on the edge of Class Bravo there are numberous high performance aircraft arriving and departing that are transitioning that altitude at speeds up to 250 kts. It's called situational awareness. In this case the paraglider got T-Boned by a single-pilot IFR aircraft and now two pilots are dead and their families are greiving on Christmas.

And to the poster that admits to "cloud surfing" and flying his paraglider in IMC...that is not just stupid, it's criminal. I hope you'll reconsider that act after this tragedy.

I agree.  His Proximity to controlled airspace at altitude was no bueno.  Rumor going around the ppg community was as such:

He was:

Self trained.

Low time guy.

Flew alone.

...

I reached out to fliers I know.  No one knew him.  But that was the word on the streets.

I know this is gonna come as a shock to you "PROFESSIONALS"  but there are some ppg guys out there who take the courses, get the training, seek wisdom from older respected ppg pilots....and obey the laws.  And then there are those that wanna learn everything on their own the hard way.  We call them Icarus-iz.

Sadly, these are usually the "particular individuals," to quote idiocracy, who bring shame to our game when they make mistakes.  Mistakes in our game are seldom tragic, but sometimes things happen.  Usually the degree to which is directly proportional to the lack of adequate training and understanding. 

I'd like to see that everyone be required to have lessons, ground school, and instruction in order to solo one of these packs on our backs.  The biggest problem I think, is not lack of a transponder, but lack of education.  I can see FAA reguation that would require a license and proper training coming down the pipe eventually, more than a required electro gizmo blasting out ads-b.  Although I'm sure they could build one the size of a flip phone for ppg these days, FAA would no doubt, be slow to implement it's use. 

Story please?  Link anyone?

link it because this supid forum is nannied down so hard it flags the link as hate speech.

Google world + record + paraglider+ height.

it's the first result you get.

Why was he (The paraglider) up there with the Big Boys? Normally the Caravan flies at 4,000' IFR to KVCT from KIAH every day! His call sign is MartinAir which is a cargo feeder for Fed-EX! Bet there will be a FAA mandate for transponders on paragliders after this one! So sad! A 35 years old Pilot trying to build time to get on with the Airlines!

You should see the paraglider dude on YouTube that flies up to 15,000! 

https://youtu.be/l8GlZBKLieo

a few of the best comments in other aviation forums: 

"In today's world, no way in hell should an aircraft of any kind be at 5000' without ADSB-out or a transponder, at least. If so, we may as well let people fly drones willy nilly at all atlitudes. This was 50% on the paraglider, and 50% on the FAA for allowing it."

"Judging by picture of left wing with the paramotor cage still lodged into it, the planes left wing struck the paramotor from behind. Paramotor pilot would have never seen the plane coming and most likely would have died on impact."

"According to FlightAware, the Cessna filed to 6,000, but was held at 5,000 initially for traffic. You can hear audio of the Cessna on the LiveATC KTME Feed "KTME-Dec-21-2021-1500Z.mp3". It's a shared feed with other frequencies so some calls appear to be missing, but here are the ones I transcribed:

Houston Approach: Martex 685, Good Morning, radar contact
Houston Approach: 30 direct Victoria when able, Martex 685
MRA685: Approach, Martex 685
Houston Approach: Sorry, who called?
MRA685: Martex 685. I just wanted to confirm you wanted me at 5,000 (for) opposite direction traffic.
Houston Approach: At 5 for now, I'll have higher in just a bit here.
MRA685: Martex 685
Houston Approach: Martex 685, climb and maintain 6,000
Houston Approach: Martex 685, Houston
Houston Approach: Martex 685, Radar Contact Lost
Houston Approach: Martex 685, Houston
Houston Approach: Martex 685, Houston
Houston Approach: Martex 685, Houston Approach

A young aviator lost his life due to a pathetic wannabe pilot who should have never been up that high in his f4gfan

Come down off that high horse there Sky King.

Not everyone is born silver spoon fed.

Some folks don't share in your white privileges to have daddy pay their way through flight school.

Some of us actually had to work to get where we are in aviation.

In VMC it's see and avoid. You don't have a leg to stand on unless the PG pilot wasn't observing cloud clearances. And if PG pilot was observing cloud clearances, it was all the other pilot's fault, because he rear ended to PG pilot.

"ALL the other pilot's fault"?

Somewhere, VFR cruising altitudes come into effect.  The other pilot was waiting for his filed altitude of 6ooo from ATC and even questioned ATC why they were being held at 5000. 

altitudes as assigned.

Please tell me you're not a pilot.

Altitudes apply? I bet you get it wrong. 

has thoughts.