UPDATED: Paraglider Pilot Disputes 'Unexpected Landing' In Lake Elsinore

UPDATE OCT. 28, 2013: A Lake Elsinore paraglider pilot is disputing the facts of the story below from City News Service that was posted Oct. 26, 2013 on Lake Elsinore-Wildomar Patch.

According to Michael "Everyday Mike" Estrada, he was with the group of hang glider and paraglider pilots who all launched together from the Ortega mountains above Lake Elsinore Saturday afternoon. Three hang glider and five paraglider pilots were in the group that included Estrada, he said.

Prior to the launch, three of the paraglider pilots agreed they were going "cross country" to a residence off Lemon Street in Wildomar; the rest of the group would pilot to a designated 56-acre landing area near SR-74 and Grand Avenue, according to Estrada.

Of the three who were headed to Wildomar, one paraglider pilot landed in an empty field near The Diamond Stadium, another near the Lemon Street destination, and one other landed in an open area just off Franklin Street, east of the 15 Freeway, in Lake Elsinore, Estrada explained.

One of the paraglider pilots did fly low over the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, but did not touch down there, he continued.

Saturday afternoon Estrada said winds were coming out of the south, not out of the east as reported by City News Service. He also said high winds were not a factor Saturday afternoon when the launch occurred around 2 p.m.

According to archived weather data for that date, winds were blowing out of the west/northwest at 3 mph with top winds reaching 14 mph and gusts up to 21 mph.

Estrada explained that if winds had been non-conducive, "we would not have launched."

Nothing was amiss Saturday, he added. No one was hurt in the incident and everyone made it safely to their destinations, he said.

Estrada also maintained that no one in the group ended up in the Lake Elsinore Skylark Field Airport drop zone. The facility is used for skydiving.

ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 26, 2013: A paraglider got more than he bargained for Saturday when high winds carried him four miles off course from the Ortega Mountains and forced him to land at a Lake Elsinore all terrain vehicle area, a sheriff's corporal said.

Witnesses on Interstate 15 alerted dispatchers at 2:06 p.m. about the paraglider who appeared to be coming in too low. Eastern winds blew the paraglider toward the ATV area where he landed without injury, Riverside County sheriff's Cpl. Joshua Morales said.

The paraglider whose name was not immediately available intended to land at the base of the Ortega Mountains when he was blown off course, Morales said.

—City News Service