Pilot crash-lands on Manali highway after losing control, video emerges

3 min readNew DelhiJul 6, 2026 11:05 AM IST

The viral video captures the moment the pilot landed on the road (Photo: @iNikhilsaini/X)

A dramatic video of a paraglider making an emergency crash landing on a road in Himachal Pradesh’s Manali has gone viral on social media. The incident occurred on Sunday after the pilot reportedly lost control mid-flight.

Residents rushed to the spot, helped the pilot move to safety, and alerted the authorities.

The viral video captures the moment the pilot landed on the road.

According to the post shared by @voccalhimachal, the incident occurred on the Chandigarh-Mandi Highway near Raison, causing a brief traffic disruption.

Eyewitnesses said the paraglider suddenly began losing altitude and became unstable mid-air. In an effort to avoid nearby vehicles and residential areas, the pilot steered the glider towards an open stretch of road, a local news website reported.

Sharing the video on X, a user, Nikhil Saini, wrote, “First doubt… if a car had hit him after he fell in the middle of the highway, would the driver have been held guilty? And with the monsoon already here, why are paragliding activities still being allowed?”

Watch the video here:

First doubt… if a car had hit him after he fell in the middle of the highway, would the driver have been held guilty? And with the monsoon already here, why are paragliding activities still being allowed? pic.twitter.com/DHXBaR7XSG

— Nikhil saini (@iNikhilsaini) July 5, 2026

Preliminary reports suggest that the pilot sustained only minor injuries and is out of danger. Officials suspect that sudden changes in weather conditions or strong winds may have contributed to the emergency landing, the report added.

‘India is not a country for adventure sports’

The video has since gone viral across all social media platforms, drawing a wave of reactions.

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“India is not a country for adventure sports if you value your life and your family,” a user wrote.

“Safety and skills in this sort of sport is not something you learn by watching YouTube videos nor with crash instructions steps!” another user commented.

“The guilty is & always shall be car, bus and truck in that order,” a third user reacted.

Several paragliding accidents have been reported in Himachal Pradesh in recent years. In January last year, a tourist from Tamil Nadu lost his life and a pilot sustained serious injuries after the paraglider they were on collided with another at the Gadsa paragliding site in Kullu.

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In 2024, a 43-year-old woman from the Czech Republic died after she crashed into a mountainside at Marhi near Manali.