Dharamshala, Oct 22 — A Canadian paraglider was found dead in the Dhauladhar mountain ranges of Kangra district on Monday, two days after she went missing during a solo flight from the Bir-Billing paragliding site, officials said.
The victim, identified as 27-year-old Megan Elizabeth Roberts, had taken off from Billing on Saturday and was flying towards Triund when her glider went down. She had sent her coordinates before losing contact, which helped rescuers locate the crash site.
A team led by the Billing Paragliding Association (BPA) and the local administration launched the search operation early Sunday. However, bad weather and cloud cover delayed access to the location. “Rescuers were airdropped on the Dhauladhar hills above Triund. The body was retrieved and brought to a lower altitude for airlifting,” Baijnath SDM Sankalp Gautam said.
Rahul Singh, who led the mountain para-rescue team, said the crash site was near Talang Pass. “I was dropped about 70 metres below and had to climb up to reach her. She was unresponsive, and I stayed overnight before the body was belayed down with ropes on Monday morning,” he said.
The body was sent for post-mortem to Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, and later handed over to her companion for cremation in Bir. “The embassy was informed, and the cremation was performed with family consent,” said BPA founding member Suresh Thakur.
Officials said Roberts was an experienced pilot who had been visiting Bir-Billing for years. “She was a skilled solo flyer familiar with the terrain,” Thakur added.
In a separate incident, Austrian paraglider Jacob Krammer was rescued unharmed on Tuesday after he crash-landed near Dehnasar Lake in the Dhauladhar range. “We received his coordinates on Monday evening and carried out the heli-rescue this morning,” SDM Gautam said.
The two incidents occurred in different locations across the Dhauladhar mountain belt, highlighting the risks associated with flying in high-altitude and unpredictable weather conditions.
Bir-Billing, regarded as one of the world’s premier paragliding destinations, attracts hundreds of international fliers every season. But in recent months, the site has reported multiple accidents — including a Belgian pilot’s death in October 2024 and a Polish paraglider’s rescue in November the same year — prompting calls for tighter safety measures.
