Paraglider faces fine of up to 250,000 euros for compromising air traffic in Mallorca

The person flying the paraglider is facing a serious or very serious offence, and is therefore liable to fines ranging from 45,000 to 250,000 euros, as provided for in the Air Safety Act 21/2003. At around 13:00 hours on Sunday the controllers in Palma detected the presence of a paraglider near the airport and informed the Guardia Civil. The latter, in turn, informed the National Police, as the airport facilities are located in an area under their jurisdiction. The information was also passed on to the Palma Local Police.

Both the Guardia Civil and airport authority Aena have highlighted the risk to aviation safety posed by a paraglider approaching the vicinity of the airport in the Balearic capital. As a result, air traffic controllers have stated that the situation caused “waiting times of around 40 minutes in arrivals in Palma until operations resumed and four crews decided to divert to alternative airports”.

Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended below a fabric wing. Wing shape is maintained by the suspension lines, the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing, and the aerodynamic forces of the air flowing over the outside.

Despite not using an engine, paraglider flights can last many hours and cover many hundreds of kilometres, though flights of one to five hours and covering some tens of kilometres are more the norm. By skillful exploitation of sources of lift, the pilot may gain height, often climbing to altitudes of a few thousand metres.