A PARAGLIDER pilot is in hospital with serious injuries after flying into a mobile phone tower wire near Mount Beauty.
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The 59-year-old was to be flown straight to Melbourne but his condition deteriorated and he was instead taken to Albury Hospital for emergency surgery.
The Melbourne man had been celebrating his birthday when the crash happened about 10.30am on Saturday.
A friend, who did not want to be named, said the man had taken off from Mount Beauty Gliding Club airstrip.
He then hit a wire running to a mobile phone tower, crashing 40 metres to the ground between Mount Emu and Mount Bogong.
“He flew straight into it, it hit him straight across the chest,” the friend said.
Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said the man has chest and torso injuries and lost consciousness.
He had lost a lot of blood.
He was taken by four-wheel-drive to a clearing where the air ambulance helicopter could pick him up.
After emergency surgery in Albury, the man was flown to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne on Saturday night in a serious but stable condition.
The pilot’s friend has called for better markings on telecommunications wires.
“All of us are aware of the power lines but these lines are invisible when you’re flying along,” he said.
“They’ve been an accident waiting to happen.
“What’s a $20 plastic ball every now and then if it’s going to save lives?”
