Hang Glider Who Crashed, Died Off Peninsula Coast Identified

The pilot of a hang glider who crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Pacifica Sunday afternoon has been identified by the San Mateo County coroner's office as 44-year-old San Francisco resident Christopher Carrillo.

Witnesses reported seeing the hang glider land in the ocean around 4 p.m. Sunday, county sheriff's spokeswoman Detective Rosemerry Blankswade said.

The pilot, later identified as Carrillo, unhooked himself from the glider but was unable to make it ashore amid heavy surf and coastal cliffs, according to Blankswade.

About an hour later, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew located him about an eighth of a mile south of where he landed. He was pulled from the water unconscious and not breathing by the helicopter crew and was pronounced dead at 5:29 p.m. after being taken to paramedics waiting on a nearby bluff, Blankswade said.

Sheriff's officials wrote on Twitter earlier Sunday that Carrillo had launched earlier in the day from Fort Funston in San Francisco and he "seemed to have caught a lot of wind, carrying his craft too far south."

Carrillo posted many videos of his hang glider trips on Instagram, including one two weeks ago.

By Bay City News Service