In a heart-stopping incident, dramatic video footage captured a paraglider plummeting nearly 500 feet into the Atlantic Ocean after losing control in mid-air.
The paraglider was identified as 52-year-old Brian Wenglarz, who was seen navigating the clear skies above southern Florida on Friday. However, the hum of his powered paraglider’s propeller abruptly went silent.
As the kite began to sway erratically, Wenglarz spiraled downward, eventually crashing into the waters near Ocean Reef Park in Riviera Beach.
The gripping cellphone footage concludes with a kite adrift on the ocean waves off Singer Island.
Investigations suggest that a sudden gust of wind destabilized Wenglarz’s powered paraglider—comprising a motorized backpack and a kite—leading to a partial collapse of the parachute.
Witnesses on the beach, including lifeguards, were alarmed by the sight and swiftly mobilized to rescue Wenglarz from the ocean.
‘I just, I just saw someone fall out of the sky,’ one frantic witness was heard telling Riviera Beach police dispatch in audio obtained by ABC News.
‘We need paramedics here immediately!’ the witness said.
Heart-pounding footage caught the moment a paraglider fell nearly 500 feet into the Atlantic Ocean after losing control mid-air over southern Florida
The paraglider, Brian Wenglarz, 52, crashed into the water about 75 yards offshore
Fortunately, Sara Williamson, a lifeguard at Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue, was sitting right nearby and witnessed the entire ordeal herself.
She told The New York Times that powered paragliders are a rare sight along the stretch of southern Florida coastline, so when Wenglarz came soaring by it caught her attention.
As soon as he landed in the water about 75 yards offshore, Williamson said she sprang into action.
‘Within maybe seconds of him crashing into the water, I started running,’ she told ABC News. ‘And radioed my partner, John Wendel.’
Wendel then recounted how Williamson asked if he could see the paraglider, ‘and all I could see was a speedboat with a parasail behind it, and [I] just couldn’t see the victim.
‘She radioed ahead because she knew that this [could be] bad,’ he added.
But within minutes, Williamson said she and her partner were able to reach the crash site, where they came across a man in a diving mask who had been snorkeling nearby.
That, she told WFLX, ‘was a godsend because we did not have a mask, and he was able to get underwater and free the man while we secured him.’
Lifeguards quickly sprang into action to rescue Wenglarz, and were aided by a man who was snorkeling nearby
By the time police arrived at the beach, body camera footage showed what remained of Wenglarz’s damaged parachute and equipment
Together, Williamson and Wendel were able to bring Wenglarz back to shore with only cuts and scrapes, which they attribute to the fact that he was wearing a helmet at the time his kite went down.
By the time police arrived at the beach, body camera footage showed what remained of Wenglarz’s damaged parachute and equipment, as the drenched paraglider walked on the shore nearby, complaining only that he lost his phone in the water.
Williamson said he was full of adrenaline and in shock from the experience.
‘After such a catastrophic fall, I was very impressed that he was doing as well as he was,’ Williamson said.
‘He could have easily drowned from the entanglement,’ she noted.
‘It was a perfect situation and it could have gone so much worse, and I’m just happy with the outcome.’
Wendel also said she was left ‘stunned’ and ‘relieved’ when he saw how well Wenglarz was faring.
The frightening ordeal now serves as a reminder for people to stay visible to lifeguards when participating in water activities, Williamson said, noting that seconds could make all the difference in emergencies.
‘Fly near a lifeguard, swim near a lifeguard,’ she advised. ‘Always be near safety.’
