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Ken Harger is a Powered Parachute Pilot from Houston, Texas. On Good Friday 2005 while executing a spiral dive out over the water in Galveston, his parachute collapsed, sending him crashing down into the Gulf of Mexico. When he hit the water, his unit flipped upside down, trapping him under the salty waves. With his seatbelt stuck, and unable free himself, Ken succumbed to the water filling his lungs. But, thanks to the heroic efforts of local "Texas Wingnuts" PPG pilots, Ken is still with us today, and back flying his PPC rig. Following is a write up for Ultra Flight magazine that one of the rescuers, Beery Miller, submitted...

It was an incident that will forever live in the minds of four PPG Texas WingNuts (www.TXWingNuts.com) and a PPC pilot. It began on the morning of Good Friday, March 25th, 2005. On route to our chosen launch site of San Luis Pass on the west end of Galveston Island, TX, we encountered intermittent patches of heavy fog. The Weather Radio indicated fog would remain patchy till about noon. This was normal for the spring when we encounter 10° temperature shifts between two days on the Gulf.

Arriving at 9:30 am at our familiar launch site, the fog bank out in the Gulf of Mexico had forced a helicopter pilot and his two oilrig passengers to land at the beach. What we would not know until much later was this was the beginning of a miracle about to take place. A quick discussion indicated the helicopter pilot had insufficient visibility about 2 miles out and he was unable to land his aircraft on the helicopter pad at the rig. The helicopter pilot was very interested in the PPG’s and amazed at our equipment commenting with a chortle they bet it would be difficult to auto rotate in with an engine out.

We moved up the beach about 500 yards from the helicopter as we knew sooner or later, he would leave a giant prop wash and would coat everything in the area with a layer of sand. With the layout of the beach that morning, this placed us in much closer proximity to one gentleman setting up a PPC soon to be followed by a second PPC.

This layout had four PPG’s and two PPC’s within one hundred feet of one another almost two hundred yards away from the waterline. Generally, one thousand feet or more separate the PPG’s and PPC’s giving each group, the PPG TXWingNuts and the PPC BARF Club, plenty of clearance to avoid turbulent air during launches.

The three PPG’s did a forward launch out towards the water approximately 45 minutes earlier than the two PPC’s. The PPG’s and PPC’s passed one another on the beach as the PPG’s returned to the launch site and landed. As we were landing, a fourth PPG pilot with just a few hours had arrived and was launching. He flew around and was attempting a foot drag when he got just a little bit too low and dinged his prop. He came in, landed, and we all inspected the minor damage.

Dale Catching, a PPG pilot had the infamous super glue and baking soda, and began the repair job to salvage the rest of this man’s flying day with everyone watching the repair job. If this incident had not happened, the event that was about unfold would not have had a happy ending and everyone would have been in the air. In about 30 minutes, the repair job was complete and the pilot launched.

While the repair job was in progress, Tommy Rollins, Sr., a PPG pilot and his 15 year old teenage son, Tommy Jr., arrived. As we were inspecting his gear, a mechanical problem was discovered on his motor further delaying our efforts to return to the sky. Again, had this not happened, the incident just minutes away now would not have had a favorable outcome.

The three of us that had flown earlier began refueling about the same time one of the two PPC pilots was returning with the second PPC approximately 1½ miles further down the beach. The PPC pilot, in the rather calm wind conditions began doing touch and go’s.

In communications later that evening, the PPC pilot indicated that as he saw the PPG’s getting ready to launch, he cleared the airspace and climbed up to approximately 1000’ approximately 200 yards offshore. He then initiated a spiral. Prior to his last 360° turn, he checked his height and determined he had sufficient altitude to complete the last turn.

What happened next, Tommy Jr., witnessed the wingtip folded under and heard the man cry out for assistance as he plunged from a height between 50’-150’ out of the sky towards the water. Tommy Jr. immediately yelled back at the four of us on the ground. Andy McAvin (owner/instructor of TX Fly Sports) and Dale immediately began running the 200 plus yards to the water. Tommy Sr., and myself, were already in our harness and preparing to launch. We immediately dropped our gear and began the sprint to the water as well.

Initially, it looked like the PPC pilot had managed to free himself from the harness. As we stripped various amounts of clothes; pants, shoes, socks and leaving our modesty behind, we entered the 66 °F water. Our initial thoughts the pilot had managed to free himself from his harness assembly was quickly replaced with fear when what we thought was his head was actually one of the tires of his PPC floating upside down.

Fortunately for the PPC pilot, the wave action pushed the PPC back towards the second sandbar where it would eventually be grounded out in 4’ deep water rather than being pushed towards deeper water. Unfortunately for the pilot though, he had been inverted and trapped upside down in the water. It was estimated that by the time we reached the pilot, he had been trapped underwater anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes.

Tommy, Andy and Dale managed to reach the PPC just ahead of myself and we found him still buckled in his harness and entangled in his lines. When the unit was rolled upright, the PPC pilot was white as a ghost. We all felt too long of time had elapsed. Getting through the crashing waves had taken just too much time.

We assessed the situation in those brief few seconds. Dale and Andy steadied the unit around the crashing waves. Tommy Sr. started chest compressions using the back of the seat as a support and I initiated mouth-to-mouth. Time was of the essence. After 4 or 5 rescue breaths, the pilot began spitting and coughing up water and then began some very labored breathing.

We finally got the PPC pilot removed from his harness and untangled and started the carry back to the beach. About a minute later, the pilot went from unconscious to semi-consciousness where he instantly remembered his last thoughts of drowning. Fear, fright, and an attempt to thrash overcame the pilot with a look of doom and dread in his face and eyes we will forever carry in our memories. We quickly calmed the pilot down telling him he was safe and we were taking him back to shore.

The 150 to 200 yard carry of the pilot back to the beach was labor intensive. Each of us either grabbed an arm or a leg with one individual supporting the neck and head as best we could in the crashing waves. As we got closer to the shore, Carl DeBarbieris, the other PPC pilot that was in the air, had landed and assisted us in getting the victim to the shore. We had almost no energy left after the sprint, the cold water and crashing waves, and then the carry back. None of the other twenty or more fishermen and sunbathers that were closer to the scene offered any assistance unless specifically told to do a task.

Once we got the pilot on the beach, we propped him on his side and began evaluating his condition as his body began the involuntary action of voiding his lungs of the seawater. We previously had individuals calling 9-1-1, and then made a repeated request giving more specific information to the site if the emergency services needed it.

We asked the pilot to squeeze our finger with his left and right hands, and then wiggle his toes on both feet. The pilot later would comment he found it very comforting to know that as we assessed his condition and was saying “Good”, now the other hand, foot, etc., he knew everything was working. While he couldn’t move as he was extremely low in oxygen content in his blood from drowning, he was fully conscious and aware of everyone’s comments around him.

The pilot heard the ambulance and fire department sirens approach, and unfortunately they faded away as the rescue department determined they would have to enter the beach from an alternative location due to the soft sand. Emergency response was probably a good 20 to 30 minutes from reaching the scene. The pilot even remembered hearing Dale, one of the 4 rescuers, discussing a knee injury he encountered during the rescue attempt and asked of his status in the emergency room several hours later.

When the ambulance crew finally reached the scene, the traditional backboard and neck brace were used and the pilot put on oxygen. Apparently, it was still touch and go during the ride to the hospital, as his oxygen content was extremely low. The paramedics mentioned to the pilot they may need to insert a tube, but if they could avoid it, they would rather not as to avoid a risk of infection.

Infections of the lung and secondary drowning are always of concern. Secondary drowning generally occurs during fresh water cases even when the victim is immediately resuscitated with no apparent problems. What happens is there has been a saline shift in the lungs and as the lungs attempt to reestablish themselves, they fill up with fluids 24 hours after the event without medical intervention. In all drowning events, medical personnel must be consulted.

The incident as previously mentioned happened on Good Friday and he was released from the hospital on Easter Sunday in time to enjoy dinner with his family. This Easter Holiday carried a special meaning for all those involved. Other than a sore knee, when he was released, there were no other injuries. Thankfully, there were no injuries to the brain for a lack of oxygen.

Several lessons can be learned from the rescue side of this incident. First, don’t assume the people closest to the incident will respond. The only people that responded were folks familiar with the equipment and specifically aware of the hazards associated with water landings and being trapped in the gear. If you need somebody to do something, specifically point out the person and tell them “Do it, etc”.

Second, despite what the situation looks like when you first come onto the scene, do all you have been trained to do. Hopeless looking situations can still have positive outcomes. We witnessed that in this incident. Be trained in First Aid and CPR. I only wish I had been carrying my oxygen bottle with me as this would have assisted in this situation.

Third, when I entered the water, I kept my blue jeans and shirt on and did not strip down to my briefs like the others. Had the pilot been in deeper water, this would have caused me problems.

Fourth, provide, say, and ask only comforting information around a victim. They can be fully aware of all comments around them and are relying on your strength to pull them through the situation.

Fifth, be aware of your rescuers. In this particular incident, Tommy Jr. jumped into the water to join the rescue efforts, but was specifically asked to remain on shore and call 9-1-1. Also be aware of the friends of the one being rescued. The buddy of the PPC pilot that was also flying, but was still in the air, did not discover there was a situation until rescue efforts for his friend were well underway as he got near the landing zone. I could sense a feeling of helplessness in the situation.

Sixth, evaluate your harness buckles. In this particular incident, the harness buckles would not release when they were under tension. This prevented the pilot from unbuckling himself when he was turned upside down in the water and left him helpless.

And seventh, prayer does work. Christians saved a Christian and in those few minutes, a lot of prayers were spoken and answered.

Following the incident, a number of pilots began the task of recovery of the PPC and the wing. Surprisingly, the wing only encountered two very minor 2” long tears. Now it was wet, heavy, and full of sand, but no other visible damage. The electronics on the PPC I am sure will require a major overhaul and the prop was destroyed. After the PPC was brought to the shore, Tommy Sr. and Dale removed the carburetors, pulled the plugs, and began turning the motor over to remove as much salt water as possible. Then, oil was sprayed down into the pistons to minimize damage. A couple of days later, the engine was completely disassembled and immersed in an oil bath by his PPC friends.

The pilot does plan on flying again if his girlfriend doesn’t change his mind. However, one of his last comments to me was he has a new respect for flying and just prior to the incident, was thinking how enjoyable and peaceful it was to just “cruise along”. He has lost the desire for what some might classify as more aggressive flying.

Fortunately, four rescuers stepped up to help a fellow pilot in need of assistance. One less individual, and the situation would have been much different. This time, this incident, and under the previously outlined conditions, the outcome was positive. Always evaluate the need versus the risk. And sometimes, things can happen that are just beyond our control when our number has been called.

May the skies always be blue, and the ground beneath your feet dry.

Beery Miller