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Paragliding Incident: A routine adventure flight turned fatal at Bir Billing, raising questions about passenger safety. A missing camera may hold clues to what happened in the air
The latest incident has raised fresh questions about safety checks for tandem flights, including the condition of harnesses, passenger restraints and equipment used by operators. (Representative Image)
A holiday in Himachal Pradesh’s popular paragliding destination, Bir Billing, ended in tragedy after a 26-year-old tourist from Greater Noida fell from a tandem paraglider during a flight on Tuesday evening. The tourist, identified as Shubham Dobliyal, died after plunging into a dense forest in Kangra district. Police have registered a case of causing death due to negligence against the pilot and launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
According to a report in The Indian ExpressShubham, who worked with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), had travelled to Bir-Billing with his sister Vanshika and three cousins. The family, residents of Supertech Eco Village 3 in Greater Noida West, had arrived on Monday and were staying at a hostel in Bir.
What Happened During The Tandem Paragliding Flight?
According to the police, the group reached Billing on Tuesday for paragliding at around 4:10 pm. Shubham was the first among them to take a tandem flight, accompanied by pilot Vinay Kumar. His sister and cousins followed in separate tandem flights.
The incident reportedly occurred while Shubham was airborne. His body was eventually located in the Gharari Dhar area, near Bir-Billing, at around 8:30 pm, nearly three and a half hours after he fell.
Police said pilot Vinay Kumar, along with other pilots and the victim’s relatives, initially found the body in the dense forest. A police team reached the location later and retrieved the body.
One of Shubham’s cousins reportedly noticed him hanging from the paraglider while the group was still in the air. His sister also said she briefly saw her brother during the incident.
Safety Harness Suspected; Paraglider Seized For Examination
Preliminary police findings suggest that the passenger’s safety harness may have loosened or opened during the flight. However, investigators have not established the exact cause of the fall.
Kangra Superintendent of Police Kulbhushan Verma said the incident could have occurred if the safety belt became loose or snapped, or if the pilot was performing manoeuvres. He said a detailed investigation would be necessary to determine what exactly happened.
Police have seized the paraglider and the passenger seat for forensic examination. The absence of the GoPro camera, which is generally used by pilots to record tandem flights, has also emerged as an important aspect of the investigation. Police said the camera has not been recovered from the spot. The victim’s purse was also missing.
Sister Alleges Pilots Refused To Share GoPro Footage
Shubham’s sister, Vanshika, has alleged that the pilots did not show the family the footage recorded by their GoPro cameras, which she believes may have captured her brother’s final moments.
Speaking to The Indian Expressshe said she had a brief glimpse of Shubham after he fell, while one of her cousins had clearly seen him descending from the paraglider. She also claimed that the family was denied access to the recordings.
One of the cousins said that the group learnt about the incident only after landing, when Shubham’s pilot informed them that he had fallen near the landing site in Bir. According to Manish, the pilot then alerted other pilots and guides and began searching for Shubham. Some family members accompanied him to the forest where the body was eventually found.
Police have said that the missing GoPro camera could make it more difficult to establish the sequence of events leading to the fall.
Pilot Booked; Family Receives Body After Postmortem
Police have registered a case of causing death due to negligence against pilot Vinay Kumar, a resident of Kotli village in the Baijnath subdivision of Kangra district. The case has been filed at Bir police station.
The Kangra Deputy Commissioner, Hemraj Bairwa, said the incident was being examined from all possible angles. Baijnath Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sankalp Gautam described it as a serious incident and said strict steps would be considered regarding the equipment and gliders used by firms offering tandem paragliding flights.
Shubham’s body was taken to Baijnath Civil Hospital for a postmortem examination and handed over to his family on Wednesday.
Instructor Points To Possible Free Fall
A paragliding instructor at Bir Billing described the incident as a possible case of ‘free fall’, in which either the passenger or the pilot falls from the paraglider before it reaches the landing area.
The instructor said such incidents could occur if safety harnesses were not fastened properly or if someone tampered with the safety belts during the flight. The possibility of a passenger accidentally or deliberately opening the belt would also need to be examined, the instructor added.
These are possible explanations and have not been established as the cause of Shubham’s death. The police investigation and forensic examination are expected to shed more light on the incident.
Bir-Billing Paragliding Safety Under Scrutiny After Earlier Accidents
The latest death has renewed attention on safety arrangements at Bir-Billing, an internationally recognised paragliding destination in Kangra district.
Last month, solo paragliding flights at the site were suspended following a series of hard landings, injuries and fatal accidents. These included the death of Bulgarian national Maksim Valentinovich Gavrilichenko. The suspension was subsequently lifted, subject to mandatory compliance with the Himachal Pradesh Aero Sports Rules, 2022, and the National Air Sports Guidelines, 2023.
In July 2025, a 25-year-old tourist from Ahmedabad, Satish Rajesh Bhai, died after a tandem paraglider crashed shortly after taking off from the Indrunag paragliding site near Dharamshala. A local pilot was also injured. Indrunag is separate from the Bir-Billing paragliding site.
Earlier, in April 2024, 56-year-old Ritu Chopra, a resident of Noida and wife of a former Indian Air Force officer, died after her paraglider crashed in the hills shortly after taking off from Bir Billing.
With the latest fatality, the focus is once again on whether safety equipment, flight procedures and operator checks at Himachal Pradesh’s popular adventure tourism sites are being adequately enforced.
Quick Answers
Ask News18Preliminary police findings indicate that the 26-year-old tourist Shubham Dobliyal fell from a tandem paraglider because his safety harness may have loosened or opened during the flight. Kangra Superintendent of Police Kulbhushan Verma stated that the incident could have happened if the safety belt became loose, snapped, or if the pilot performed sudden manoeuvres.
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Shimla, India, India
November 12, 2026, 10:59 IST
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