Paulina Biskup, 38, experienced problems with her parachute as she descended to the ground (Image: Jam Press)
A tourist’s thrill turned to nightmare as Paulina Biskup plummeted to her death during a supposed adventure of a lifetime. The national, who had made her home for studies, encountered severe difficulty shortly after deploying her parachute, tumbling uncontrollably towards the earth in front of shocked onlookers.
The violent swinging motion ended in horror as she slipped from the harness and fell multiple feet to the ground. Harrowing video footage captures gut-wrenching screams as her parachute implodes, leading to her fatal descent into the field below.
This gruesome incident occurred Tuesday at Roldanillo’s popular Aguapanela paragliding site near Bogota, , where 38 year old Paulina faced calamity mere moments post take-off. Despite reports that rescue teams responded swiftly, attempts at proved futile.
Local outlets indicate she succumbed to profound injuries sustained upon impact. Paulina, described as being with her partner and friends, was not participating in a concurrent paragliding event in the vicinity. Renowned for its ideal airborne conditions, Roldanillo attracts many to what’s often touted as Colombia’s “paragliding capital”, with Aguapanela offering spectacular vistas and air currents sought by enthusiasts.
A local official claimed she ‘didn’t fasten her harness properly’ (Image: Jam Press)
Paulina, a Trinity College Dublin graduate based in the Irish capital, tragically lost her life in a paragliding accident, as per her social media. A local official, who wanted to remain anonymous, informed the press: “It seems she didn’t fasten her harness properly, which caused her to fall.”
Roldanillo authorities have confirmed that an inquiry into the distressing incident is ongoing.
In a related account, Jordan Hatmaker from Virginia Beach recounted his harrowing experience of surviving a fall from an aircraft after his parachute malfunctioned. During his final jump of the day, his parachute failed to deploy correctly, sending him spiralling uncontrollably and plummeting to the ground at speeds exceeding 60mph.
Speaking to the Mirror, he detailed: “Everything was fine during freefall, but then I pulled my chute. The pilot chute wrapped around my right leg a few times. I tried desperately to get it off. Time slowed down for me but I was falling so fast. I thought I had a lot more time than I did. I was trying to get it off my leg, and then I tried to get my shoe off but I had double knotted my shoelaces because in a previous jump one of my shoes fell off. (The instructor actually caught it in the air.)
Towards the end of the footage, the parachute collapsed in on itself (Image: Jam Press)
“At 750ft the automatic activation device fired, which is like a reserve parachute which opens when you get to a certain altitude without deploying the main parachute. My reserve parachute came out which jolted enough to make my main parachute come out. But the two canopies were flying next to each other, dragging away from each other and started me spinning into the ground. This was 200ft above the ground.
“It happened so fast. I was completely out of control. I just remember thinking that the ground was coming up really really fast. And I remember thinking: ‘This is going to hurt.'”
Her parachute began swinging from side-to-side (Image: Jam Press)