I trusted fellow pilot, paramotor flyer tells crash inquiry

A PARAMOTOR pilot who was involved in a midair collision that left another flyer dead has told an inquiry she had been "paranoid" about flying close to other pilots since an earlier crash in Wales.

- NICK FORBES

> Sacha Dench arriving at Tain Sheriff Court to give evidence this week

(Paul Campbell)

Sacha Dench was attempting a 3,000-mile round Britain by paramotor challenge when the aircraft she was flying was involved in a collision with one piloted by Dan Burton, 54.

Mr Burton, from Topsham, in Devon, died in the incident, which happened on September 18, 2021, while Ms Dench survived but suffered serious injuries.

The expedition, which was named the Round Britain Climate Challenge, started in June and had been intended to highlight the issue of climate change ahead of the Cop26 conference, which took place in Glasgow later that year.

Climate activist Ms Dench had previously received acclaim for a similar expedition recounted in BBC documentary, Flight Of The Swans, which saw her dubbed the 'human swan'.

Giving evidence to a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) at Tain Sheriff Court on Tuesday, Ms Dench recalled an earlier collision with another pilot while paragliding onto a hill in Wales.

"I was coming into land and another pilot above me caught his knee in my wing, and we both landed together," she said. "I got dragged off the top of the hill, dragged along on my face. I didn't know it at the time but I had broken my arm as well."