12 Cases Occurred in Danyang-gun, Chungbuk
This Year 13 Cases, Surpassing Last Year's Accident Count
It has been investigated that there have been 51 paragliding accidents in South Korea over the past 5 years and 9 months. Additionally, the total number of fatalities resulting from these accidents reached 25.
According to the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (hereinafter referred to as ARIB) under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 23rd, domestic paragliding accidents occurred 7 times in 2018, 3 times in 2019, 9 times in 2020, 8 times in 2021, and 11 times last year. As of the 2nd of this month, 13 accidents have been identified this year, already surpassing the number of accidents that occurred last year.
Among the paragliding accidents that have occurred since 2018, 24 cases involved fatalities, with a total of 25 people having died.
One of the recent fatal paragliding accidents occurred on the 30th of last month, when a male pilot in his 60s and a female participant in her 20s fell to their deaths on the slopes of Okmasan Peak in Boryeong-si, Chungnam Province. In the same area, on February 4th, a man in his 40s who was paragliding alone crashed into a river about 400 meters before the landing site. It is reported that he sustained severe lower body injuries from this accident.
In June, a fatal accident occurred near Seopjikoji Beach in Seogwipo-si, Jeju. At that time, a man in his 60s who was flying a paraglider died on the spot after coming into contact with a 22,900V high-voltage power line. Additionally, in March, two club members in their 50s and 60s died in a paragliding accident in Asan, Chungnam.
Looking at the total 51 accidents since 2018 by location, 12 occurred in Danyang-gun, Chungbuk Province, which is considered a "paragliding sanctuary." However, no fatal accidents occurred during paragliding in Danyang. Other locations with multiple accidents include Boryeong-si, Chungnam (5 cases), Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon (4 cases), and Gurye-gun, Jeonnam and Hadong-gun, Gyeongnam (3 cases each).
Meanwhile, there are concerns that the actual number of paragliding-related accidents may be higher than reported, as minor accidents that do not require rescue are not included in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s statistics.
There are also opinions that safety education and accident prevention measures provided by companies regarding paragliding accidents are insufficient. The Aviation Safety Act Enforcement Rules prepared by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport only state that "aviation leisure companies must sufficiently explain safety-related precautions," but there are no detailed guidelines, and there are no separate regulations regarding the wearing of paragliding protective gear.
In response, an ARIB official pointed out, "Local governments actively promote paragliding as a performance indicator for aviation leisure activation, and companies have increased, intensifying competition, but safety management seems to be neglected."
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