Another glider crash

By Micheal Anglin

Picture by Stephen Thompson

A Sydney man is recovering in hospital after recently crashing his hang-glider at Stanwell Park.

59-year-old Chris Kalinski suffered serious injuries after failing to negotiate a safe landing of his hang glider on the beach at Stanwell Park. Eyewitness reports said the member of the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club in Sydney was returning to sky for the first time after suffering a serious shoulder injury sustained previously from another hard landing.

NSW Ambulance District Officer, Mr. Ian Hanna, said Mr Kalinski suffered chest trauma and possible spinal injury after landing in the reeds along the creek.

Mr Richard Brown, a member of the club and a pilot for more than 8 years said “based upon what eyewitnesses are saying, it appears Chris side-slipped, which can happen when you do not have enough airflow over the wings of the glider.”

While the day had seemed good for hang gliding earlier, it had turned overcast and started raining and pilots began returning to base before conditions worsened. Witnesses reportedly alleged Mr Kalinski realized he was too close to another descending pilot and turned sharply to avoid collision and quickly lost air pressure over the wings of his glider.

Przemek Kowalski, Mr Kalinski’s nephew, arrived in Australia for a six week holiday and was eagerly awaiting his uncle’s return before he himself would take a tandem flight. After taking photos and watching his uncle take off, he waited in the car for him to land. Unaware of what happened, Przemek received the news of his uncle’s injury when someone knocked on the window of the car to tell him about the accident.

“I was so shocked,” said Przemek. “The day was nice, it’s my first time to fly and this happens.”

After being stabilized by ambulance officers, Mr Kalinski was airlifted to St George Hospital in Kogarah for further treatment.