Colorado man killed in hang glider accident in San Juan County

Written by Mori Kessler
August 25, 2015

SAN JUAN COUNTY – A Colorado man was killed following a hang glider accident near Canyonlands National Park Monday.

Craig Pirazzi, 50, of Paradox, Colorado, was killed after strong winds dragged his hang glider off a cliff while he attempted to take off, according to a statement for the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.

Once off the cliff, Pirazzi spiraled down 300 feet.

The accident occurred around 6:30 p.m. in the Indian Creek area east of Canyonlands National Park.

Three other hang gliders who were with Pirazzi at the time, rappelled down the site where he had crashed, and administered CPR.

“Mr. Pirazzi never would respond and was pronounced dead due to serious head/body trauma,” the Sheriff’s Office said in the statement.

Pirazzi’s body was recovered by San Juan County Search and Rescue crews.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mori Kessler serves as a Senior Reporter for St. George News, having previously contributed as a writer and Interim Editor in 2011-12, and an assistant editor from 2012 to mid-2014. He began writing news as a freelancer in 2009 for Today in Dixie, and joined the writing staff of St. George News in mid-2010. He enjoys photography and won an award for photojournalism from the Society of Professional Journalists for a 2018 photo of a bee inspector removing ferals bees from a Washington City home. He is also a shameless nerd and has a bad sense of direction.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler@STGnews

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