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Reverberations of Mythology 2012 by Rick Masters http://www.cometclones.com/mythology2012.htm
Mar 26 - The specter of incompetence in professional paragliding rears its ugly head once again, this time in Brazil, with the high-profile death of Priscilla Boliveira, sister to national television star Fabricio Boliveira. Tragically, it was Fabricio who purchased the flight for Priscilla, and he was present when she fell from her harness to her death on a beach south of Rio de Janeiro on Sunday afternoon. The professional instructor, Allan Figueiredo, told the police her leg buckles had popped loose in flight, but a witness has presented a video to the police that reportedly showed the woman launching with dangling leg straps. The video also is said to show that the flight was recorded by an onboard video camera operated by the pilot. However, in his deposition, Figueiredo made no mention of the camera, which appears to have disappeared. Now the police have charged Figueiredo with manslaughter by negligence and they demand he provide the camera. Formal charges will be presented in court on May 30. The uproar by the Brazilian press is also causing governmental scrutiny of the widespread commercial tandem flights sold for $250 at popular venues. These tandem rides, as is common throughout the world, are provided ostensibly for training purposes. But everyone knows they are primarily a way for instructors to rake in easy money. Not only is the money easy, frequently resulting in income of upwards of $1000 per day, but the financial web of paragliding "instruction" appears to exert undue influence on national free-flight association policies throughout the world.
Also,
Mar 7 - Word comes from Turkey that professional Fethiye tandem paraglider pilot Murat Yeşilbaçar has been found guilty of negligence in the death of automotive engineer Caner Guler, who fell 2700 feet to his death from Yeşilbaçar's paraglider on September 2, 2011. Although the prosecutor pressed for 9 years of incarceration, Yeşilbaçar was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison. In his defense, Yeşilbaçar had claimed that Guler had unfastened his harness during the flight. However, photographs were presented showing that Yeşilbaçar had launched without properly securing Guler's harness. During the trial, Guler's widow Miray expressed outrage at Yeşilbaçar's "lies" of properly securing the harness and she continually pressed the prosecution for a stiffer sentence. In the end, his prison time appears to have been reduced because Yeşilbaçar's family will experience great hardship without him.
