Bend-bound paraglider gets caught in Tumalo power lines

Published 12:52 pm Friday, October 16, 2015

BEND, Ore. — A man flying a powered paraglider from Madras to Bend got caught up in some Tumalo power lines, leaving him hanging until help came to get him down.

KTVZ-TV reported that Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies and Bend Fire Department paramedics say witnesses helped 29-year-old Tobias Osborne, of London, down Thursday evening. He had been hanging from his parachute, tangled in the lines.

Deputies say Osborne was flying to the Bend Airport when he was forced to try to land in the Tumalo filed due to increased winds. As he began to land, he realized his altitude was too low to clear the power lines. His parachute got tangled.

The incident briefly knocked out power to several homes.