A Swiss paraglider had a very lucky escape on Sunday 27th September, whilst trying to descend from Baba Dağ to Ölü Deniz beach.  Shortly after leaping off the mountain he crashed into the rocky mountain side.

His injuries included a badly broken leg, which meant that he had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital in Fethiye.

Two young men walking on the Lycian Way witnessed, and indeed helped the rescue and took these amazing photos - see below.

Diverted from their walk on the Lycian Way
Tom Wilkinson, who works in financial services in London, and Dag Thomas Hansson, a corporate lawyer from Oslo, Norway, were walking on the first part of the Lycian Way, when they unexpectedly found themselves in the middle of the dramatic rescue.

Tom told Kalkan Turkish Local News that the accident must have happened at around 1pm, when they were about 40 minutes into their walk.  They found the casualty, who was conscious, but clearly quite badly injured, on the ground.  Also at the scene was someone from the paragliding company, and two other people.  They were soon joined by two Swiss ladies, who were able to converse with the casualty.

Emergency equipment
Fortunately, Tom and Dag were carrying some emergency equipment, which they were able to offer.  They had a bright orange survival bag which they used to shield the casualty from the heat of the sun.

They also had a GPS unit, which provided their exact location.  However for some reason their offer to provide the co-ordinates to the rescuers was turned down.  The man from the paragliding company radioed for assistance, and a rescue helicopter was dispatched.

To attract the attention of the approaching helicopter, Tom and Dag used a couple of mirrors to reflect the light of the sun, so that they appeared as flashes of light to the pilots.  When you are in rough mountain terrain, the use of mirrors is a very effective way of getting yourself seen.  Smoke flares were also used.

Casualty winched up on stretcher
There was nowhere safe for the pilot to land, so two rescuers were winched down on to the mountain side.  The helicopter hovered close to the rocky mountain side, creating a strong downdraft, buffeting the people below.  

A stretcher was then lowered down and the casualty placed upon it.  He was winched up on his own, with the stretcher twisting and turning on the way up.  Then the two rescuers were winched up together and the helicopter hovered for a few minutes, before sweeping off in the direction of Fethiye.

Tom and Dag have been staying at Club Patara in Kalkan, where Tom's parents have a property.  Their holiday is coming to an end, and they make their way back home, via Istanbul tomorrow, with some extraordinary photos in their holiday album.

On a related note
It is interesting to discover that in Muğla region, (where Ölü Deniz is located), they have an emergency helicopter with a winch, whereas Antalya region (where Kalkan is located), has a rescue helicopter that needs to land.  

Kalkan Turkish Local News is making enquiries to find out whether the Antalya rescue helicopter has been converted, or possibly could be converted, to be able to winch casualties aboard.  This would be especially useful for mountain rescues of course, and we do have rather alot of mountains!  We will let you know what we discover.

The photos below were taken by Dag Thomas Hansson and are reproduced here with his permission. 

 Below: 13.30 - the helicopter arrives at the scene as Tom (yellow t-shirt), comforts the casualty.

 Below: 13.53 - the rescuers land and prepare to evacuate the casualty.

 Below: 13.55 - on the stretcher, and being moved to a safer spot.

 Below: 13.57 - preparing the casualty for the ascent.

 Below: 14.00 - casualty is attached and ready to be winched aboard.

 Below: 14.01 - you can just see the stretcher as it is about to enter the helicopter.