One dead and one seriously injured in Northern California hang gliding crash

Crash came during tandem flight

Two hang gliders crashed in Milpitas, California’s Ed R Levin Park on Monday, 30 May, 2022. (Santa Clara County Parks)

A man is dead and a woman is seriously injured after a hang gliding crash on Monday in northern California.

The crash occured around noon when a pair doing a tandem flight from a summit in Milpitas’s Ed R Levin Park crashed into a hillside, according to officials.

"The terrain is very rugged," Galahad Zamora of the Milpitas Fire Department told KTVU. "It’s a single lane road in order to get up to that location. It provided some challenges for our equipment and personnel to get up there and make patient contact."

The woman was airlifted to Regional Medical Center, where her condition is unknown.

Identifying details about the pair were not immediately released, as officials work to notify next of kin. The relationship of the two individuals is unknown, though tandem flights are often between an instructor and a student.

The Independent has reached out to the fire department and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office for more information.

“It’s an ongoing investigation,” sheriff’s office spokesperson Russell Davis told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Our thoughts are with the family members and friends.”

The park is a popular destination for hang gliders in the area, and non-fatal accidents are common.

One local hang glider told ABC7 that condition on Monday did not appear safe for a tandem flight.

“You could feel the gusts,” he said. “That’s not very good.”

“Losing control, or getting too close to the hill, is probably what might have happened today. I don’t know all the details but, it’s very possible the guy was close to the hill and got pushed by the wind or something,” added hang glider Alex Brozdounoff, speaking with KTVU.

The county coroner, Milpitas Fire Department, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, and Santa Clara County Parks are working together on investigating the crash.