Paraglider Plunges To His Death On Rancho Palos Verdes Beach

RANCHO PALOS VERDES (AP) — A Southern California paraglider caught in a gust of wind lost his grip and plunged to his death on a rocky Rancho Palos Verdes beach.

Coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said Monday that 44-year-old Seoung Man Lee wasn't wearing his helmet or harness as he was inspecting or preparing to store his paragliding apparatus. He was grasping both steering handles when a sudden gust of wind inflated the chute and lifted him 100 feet.

MacWillie told the Torrance Daily Breeze he lost his grip and the Torrance man fell to his death at about 6:25 p.m. Saturday.

In another paraglider incident Saturday, a woman's rig got snagged in high-voltage power lines in the Lake of the Pines area of the Sierra foothills. She was freed without injury two hours later.

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