Transport Canada is investigating after a wayward paraglider became snagged on power lines Monday night, putting roughly 2,800 properties in Canyon Heights and Edgemont in the dark.
The incident happened just after 8:30 p.m. on Montroyal Boulevard at Ranger Avenue.
“I noticed this paraglider and I’m thinking ‘This guy’s totally off course. He needs to be going farther south.’ But he just kept gliding lower and lower to the ground,” said Jabeen Jussa, who was driving down Montroyal at the time.
“I see him literally land right on the power lines, landing as if he’s lying in a hammock.”
Another paraglider landed in a nearby backyard. Paragliders typically take off from Grouse Mountain and glide down to Cleveland Park.
Neighbours called 9-1-1 and drivers stopped to offer assistance. Emergency crews arrived a short time later. North Vancouver RCMP members secured the scene from the gathering crowd while BC Hydro and District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescues Services members de-energized the lines and did a high-angle rescue using a hydro bucket truck to get the dangling man - an area resident in his 50s - and his chute down.
“Once he was removed from the lines, he was checked by B.C. Ambulance personnel and released,” said assistant fire chief Dave Burgess.
“He seemed uninjured and eager to leave.”
Despite his precarious situation, the errant glider remained calm, Jussa said.
“He was not panicked. He was fine. He did not hit his head, thank God, on the stop sign’s pole. He was just hanging out there having a good ol’ time,” Jussa said. “Definitely not something you see every day, although living on the North Shore, I see paragliders all the time – just not landing at a stop sign.
BC Hydro had the power back on before 10 p.m.
The case is very troubling, according to Margit Nance, executive director of Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada.
“It’s illegal to fly after dark. Transport Canada is very strict about that and we observe that scrupulously,” Nance said.
Paragliders must be members of the association in order to use Grouse Mountain’s take-off point and the man in question wasn’t a member, Nance said.
“It’s a very treasured site and so we work very closely with Grouse Mountain resort. There is a particular membership list of people who are allowed to fly there, whose skill level and whose currency in our association is checked on prior to being allowed up,” she said. “How this happened, I have no idea.”
In a statement, Transport Canada confirmed its involvement in the case.
“All hang gliders and paragliders are expected to fly safely and legally. Transport Canada will look into this incident and will take appropriate action if non-compliance with the rules is found,” the statement read.
Grouse Mountain did not respond to a request for comment.
