Paragliding instructor falls more than 300ft to his death – forcing tourist to land herself

A paragliding instructor fell more than 300ft to his death after mysteriously detaching himself from his harness during a tandem leisure flight.

Vali Cîrlan and a tourist took off from an altitude of about 1,200m (3,937ft) on Sunday in Romania. After they had covered almost 1.2 miles, Cîrlan, 47, detached from his harness for reasons still unknown. He plunged more than 100m (328ft) onto a street right in front of the horrified tourist’s eyes.

One witness told local media: “I heard a loud bang, and when I went outside, there was a man lying on the ground. At first, I thought he’d been hit by a car. He still had his helmet on.” Vali hit the tarmac so hard that he died instantly. The paramedics who arrived at the scene in Bunloc near Brașov, Romania, were unable to revive him.

His wife also rushed there and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance after going into shock. Despite her lack of experience, the tourist – a 23-year-old from Bucharest – managed to land safely. Flight supervisor Cristi Tutunea told local media: “She handled everything on her own until she got close to the ground. And once she was near, the people on site guided her the rest of the way.

“They shouted for her to turn left and right, helping her line up with the terrain to land safely. It’s hard to explain, and it’s incredible that she managed to come down safely.” Vali had reportedly been flying for more than 20 years. He completed his tandem flight course last year, and this year he completed his paragliding instructor course. It’s still unclear how he became detached from his harness, which remained attached to the wing.

There may have been a problem with the equipment or human error may have contributed. Initial investigations suggest that none of the harness components failed, strengthening the human error hypothesis. But this seems unbelievable to Tutunea, who said: “He was a really meticulous guy, very attentive to details.” Both the Brașov police and the Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Authority have opened investigations into the tragedy.

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