Hang glider and paragliders collide in Draper, killing 1


5 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

DRAPER — Police said a man was killed and two people were critically injured in a mid-air collision above the Salt Lake County Flight Park on Tuesday.

Police identified the deceased paraglider as Joshua Ellison, 44, of Draper.

Initially, police said the male pilot of the hang glider was released at the scene, but on Wednesday said he had been transported to a local hospital with severe injuries.

Draper Police Lt. Mike Elkins said crews responded after 5 p.m. Tuesday on a report of the mishap.

"There had been an unfortunate mid-air collision involving a paraglider carrying two individuals and a hang glider," Elkins told KSL-TV.

According to Elkins, officers found the man and woman from the paraglider badly injured at the scene.

"He was in very poor shape," Elkins said of the man. "By the time LifeFlight landed, he had succumbed to his injuries."

Elkins said the woman was transported to Intermountain Medical Center with critical injuries.

"I know these individuals are very passionate about what they do," Elkins said. "They have a system down, so this is very unfortunate."

"My heart goes out to them," Elkins said. "I can't imagine the difficulty that the family is feeling as well as the hang gliding community here to have someone have that happen to them doing what they love."

Correction: A previous version incorrectly stated the deceased man and injured woman were hang gliding. They were paragliding.

Photos

Most recent Police & Courts stories

Related topics

UtahSalt Lake CountyPolice & Courts
Andrew Adams, KSL-TVAndrew Adams
Andrew Adams is an award-winning journalist and reporter for KSL-TV. For two decades, he's covered a variety of stories for KSL, including major crime, politics and sports.

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button