Hang Glider Dies After Crashing Into Ocean Off Peninsula Coast

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — A man who was piloting a hang glider off the coast of San Mateo County on Easter Sunday died after he crashed into the ocean below, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office reports. The 45-year-old San Francisco man had taken off from Fort Funston in San Francisco before crashing near Pacifica.

According to sheriff's Det. Rosemerry Blankswade, witnesses called authorities around 1 p.m. to report a hang glider who "appeared to be in distress over the ocean north of Gray Whale Cove in the Devil’s Slide area of Highway 1 in unincorporated San Mateo County."

"According to witnesses, the hang glider landed in the ocean, unhooked himself from the glider, but was unable to make it ashore due to the heavy surf and cliffs," she said in a news release.

It was about an hour later when a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew located the victim in the water approximately 1/8 of a mile south of where he landed in the water. The man was pulled from the water by a helicopter crew, unconscious and not breathing, Blankswade said.

The victim was then brought to paramedics waiting on a nearby bluff, where they immediately began CPR.

"Ultimately, the attempts to resuscitate the victim were unsuccessful and he was pronounced deceased at 5:29 p.m.," she said.

In an earlier Twitter post, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said a 45-year-old San Francisco man had launched earlier in the day from Fort Funston, adding that he "seemed to have caught a lot of wind, carrying his craft too far south."

The man's name was not immediately released.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report