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Updated: 2:40 PM Jun 22, 2009
Paraglider Killed After Crashing Into Mount Herman Identified
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office tells 11 News the paraglider, who crashed into Mount Herman and died last Friday, has been identified as 52-year-old Paul Bessell.
Posted: 2:24 PM Jun 22, 2009Reporter: KKTV |
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9 Comments 
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office tells 11 News the paraglider, who crashed into Mount Herman and died last Friday, has been identified as 52-year-old Paul Bessell.
Mount Herman is north of the Air Force Academy, south of Monument and west of Interstate 25. Bessell crashed in the middle of the east side of the mountain.
Hikers in the area witnessed the crash and called 911. The hikers told officials they saw Bessell lose control before crashing. Those hikers also tried to perform CPR on the man, but authorities say it was too late. Bessell was pronounced dead at 2:25 p.m. on Friday.
El Paso County Search and Rescue say it is possible that a strong gust of wind caused Bessell to spin out of control. They say it is also possible that he lost control due to a health condition.
An autopsy is scheduled and we won't know his exact cause of death until the autopsy is complete.
Search and Rescue sent a flight for life helicopter to the scene, but canceled the flight once they learned the man did not make it.
Latest Comments
long long time since we last met,but many great memories of the fun times we used to have.
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Paul was my brother in law and very good friend. When Paul and Beth flew my wife and me from Florida to his wedding in Bristol 2 years ago, he not only brought me back to my favorite place(England)but also gave me my first true and proper English pub crawl. At the end of that night, we ate Fish 'n Chips at the bottom of the Christmas Steps. I'll never forget that..it was truly the best ever. For the record, Paul was also a much better chess player than me and taught me a few things. In the short time I knew Paul, I grew to feel like he was like an older brother as we got on so well. I'm extremely upset that he's no longer part of my life as he was truly a unique and very nice, decent person. My wife,Kristen will be at his funeral on my behalf as I'm unable to attend. My sincere condolences to Thomas, Lucia,his parents and all of his good friends I met in England. You were loved and cared about Paul. Wish I could have helped start that micro brew co.with you like we talked about.
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Paul was the man who first told me about paragliding. We were working together in Sofia. After he left I started paragliding and always wanted to fly with him one day... He was a nice person. I miss him!
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