A 62-YEAR-OLD Poole man who died in a tragic paragliding accident may have “frozen” when his glider spiralled out of control, an inquest heard.

Martin Hume’s paraglider plummeted around 200 metres at a speed of approximately 50mph during a holiday in southern Spain, district coroner Sheriff Payne was told.

“It is likely that the pilot accidentally entered the spiral dive – this can be extremely disorienting and frightening,” said David Thompson, senior technical officer for the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.

“This can lead to a situation where a pilot ‘freezes’ and may explain why he made no attempt to recover from the spiral or deploy his emergency parachute.”

The Bournemouth inquest was told that Mr Hume was pronounced dead more than four hours after the crash, in the Algodonales area which is famous for paragliding. He died of multiple injuries.

Mr Payne heard he was difficult to reach after crashing in a steep and rocky area with thorn bushes and Mr Thompson added: “With more prompt and thorough medical attention this could have been survivable.”

The inquest was told it is unclear exactly what caused the accident, which happened on March 19 this year. Mr Hume, of Upton, had been paragliding since 2005 and was described as a “methodical” paraglider of “lower intermediate” level. He was using the right equipment, which was in good condition, the coroner was told.

He and his nephew, Martin McGahon, were part of an organised paragliding holiday and regularly took part in the sport together along the Dorset coast.

The accident happened on the fifth day of their holiday and Mr Hume had already successfully flown in the Algodonales area and in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Mr Payne recorded a verdict that Mr Hume died as the result of an accident.