The Kangra administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of a 26-year-old tourist from Greater Noida who fell during a tandem paragliding flight at Bir-Billing, with officials examining whether licensing, equipment or safety violations contributed to the accident.
The four-member fact-finding committee was constituted by Baijnath Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sankalp Gautam two days after the tourist died. It has been directed to submit its findings and recommendations within 14 days.
The committee, headed by the Baijnath tehsildar, includes the Station House Officer of Bir police station, an inspector from the district tourism office in Dharamshala and technical expert Jyoti Thakur. It will examine the validity of the tandem pilot’s licence, the registration and approval of the paragliding operator, the maintenance of equipment used during the flight, and compliance with prescribed safety norms and weather-related restrictions.
The inquiry will also record statements from the pilot, the operator and eyewitnesses, while examining relevant operational records. The paragliding supervisor at Bir-Billing has been instructed to provide the committee with necessary assistance, documents and access to personnel.
The tourist, identified as Shubham Dobliyal, had been holidaying in Bir with his sister and three cousins. According to the report, he fell on Tuesday evening shortly after taking off from Billing and landed in a forested area near the designated landing site. He reportedly fell from a height of more than 200 metres. The tandem pilot, Vinay Kumar, 45, of Kotli village in Baijnath tehsil, landed safely and alerted other pilots after the passenger fell.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the passenger’s safety harness might have come undone during the flight, although the exact cause had not been determined when the inquiry was ordered. Police have registered a case against the pilot under Sections 106 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to causing death by negligence and a negligent act endangering human life.
The administrative action comes after another fatality at Bir-Billing within 17 days. On October 25, Bulgarian national Maksim Gavrilichenko, 47, died after crashing his paraglider in the Dhauladhar mountains after taking off from the site. The administration temporarily suspended solo flying at Bir-Billing on October 26, but withdrew the order after protests by paragliders who had gathered for the winter flying season.
The recent incidents have also prompted scrutiny of safety enforcement and the conduct of tandem pilots. Kangra police conducted dope tests on paragliding pilots and operators in Bir-Billing on October 31. The report also noted that two tourists from Gujarat and a Canadian solo paraglider died in separate crashes in Kangra district last year.
At least 34 people, including tourists and solo pilots from India and abroad, have died in paragliding accidents in Kangra and Kullu districts since 2009, according to the report. The committee’s findings are expected to establish the circumstances of the latest death and recommend further action on licences, operator approvals, equipment checks and flight safety compliance.
