By . William Turvill . PUBLISHED: . 04:38 EST, 27 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 06:35 EST, 27 February 2014 . A thrill-seeking paraglider fell 30ft to his death after telling his worried partner: ‘Wouldn’t it be a good way to go.’ Engineer Rob Kirkbride, 48, from Lytham, Lancashire, died after his paraglider wing, which is part of the parachute, collapsed shortly after take-off as 5mph wind speeds increased by up to five times at a renowned paragliding hill. Mr Kirkbride’s death was witnessed by his friend, a fellow paraglider, who ran to his aid when he saw him come crashing down. He was found unconscious on the ground and, despite efforts to revive him, was pronounced dead at the scene. Devastated: Angela Feehan has told how her partner, Rob Kirkbride, who fell 30ft to his death while paragliding, said to her: 'Wouldn't it be a good way to go' He died when his paraglider wing collapsed shortly after take-off as 5mph winds increased by five times . Only hours earlier Mr Kirkbride had kissed his partner, Angela Feehan, 42, goodbye at their home before setting off to a paragliding territory in Pendle Hill, Lancashire. The inquest in Blackburn was told the father-of-two had been a competent paraglider and had been paragliding for the last couple of years. After assessing the ‘benign’ weather conditions on December 4 he took to the skies using his new equipment which he had bought just a few weeks prior. The inquest was told that the equipment had not been at fault and his death amounted to a combination of changing winds, turbulence and convection that had caused his wing to collapse. Miss Feehan fought back tears after the inquest to say that he had been ‘an inspiration’. She said: ‘That morning was the same as every morning. I took him up a cup of tea and gave him a kiss. ‘I always said "be careful" and he would say: "but wouldn’t it be a good way to go". He died knowing I loved him and doing something he loved. He would take any opportunity he had to go and fly.’ Miss Feehan said: 'I always said "be careful" and he would say: "but wouldn't it be a good way to go" The friend who had accompanied Mr Kirkbride to Pendle Hill told the inquest that they had met through social media groups relating to the sport. He told the inquest that they had parked their car and walked a short distance to the position from which they were going to launch. But he said he had packed away his equipment after misjudging his own launch and injuring his ankle. He said: ‘The risk to any flying activity is that there is always a threat of an accident caused by the weather conditions, not doing the necessary checks, falling outside ability. ‘We took stock of the weather conditions and whether it was worsening or getting better. He deployed his equipment and I assumed he did the normal safety checks. He went into soaring pattern and soared across the front of the ridge. ‘He went went into hovering mode which indicated he was trying to come in to a landing. He flew across the face of the hill, gained a little bit of height and flew around and behind me. ‘I viewed half of his canopy collapse. He was flying forward, as he got to a level the whole right-hand side of the canopy collapsed under himself. It had half the capability of the wing. He travelled forward and down at speed at which point he impacted the ground. I didn’t see the impact.’ The inquest in Blackburn was told the father-of-two had been a competent paraglider and had been paragliding for the last couple of years . He told how he scrambled to his friend before calling the emergency services and performing CPR. North West Air Ambulance and Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue were also called to the scene. The inquest was told that Mr Kirkbride had been wearing a safety helmet and a broken head camera was found close to his body. No footage of his fall had been recorded. Post-mortem tests concluded he had died from multiple injuries including multiple bone fractures and a haemorrhage of the spinal chord. Technical manager for the British Hand GIiding and Paragliding Association Mark Dale was asked to prepare an analysis of the incident. He told the inquest that Mr Kirkbride’s wing had collapsed at a very low height which can occur if flying into turbulence. He added that the wind speed on the day had increased from 5-10mph to at least 18-25mph but ‘could quite probably have become even stronger’. Post-mortem tests concluded he had died from multiple injuries including multiple bone fractures and a haemorrhage of the spinal chord . He said: ‘Evidence suggests that the weather conditions seem suitable for flying initially but very rapidly become unsuitable. It is quite possible he was the first ever paraglider that attempted to top land that part of the hill in these wind speeds. Winds can change pace very rapidly. ‘It is quite clear that conditions were changing very rapidly, it can very easily lead to getting caught out. With ten years flying experience he may have looked at conditions and noticed that they were changing. They were surprisingly benign to begin with and rapidly became worse.’ He added that another pilot had chosen not to fly after assessing the wind that day. Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: ‘It seems to represent a very tragic accident. It is clearly a sport that with it brings some dangers, part of the exhilaration is the danger. It is tragic that some people end up paying the ultimate price.’
Rob Kirkbride, 48, died when his paraglider wing, part of the parachute, collapsed after take-off as 5mph wind speeds increased by up to five times .
He was found unconscious and pronounced dead at the scene after the fall .
Hours earlier he had kissed his partner, Angela Feehan, 42, goodbye at their home before setting off to a paragliding territory in Pendle Hill .
By . William Turvill . PUBLISHED: . 04:38 EST, 27 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 06:35 EST, 27 February 2014 . A thrill-seeking paraglider fell 30ft to his death after telling his worried partner: ‘Wouldn’t it be a good way to go.’ Engineer Rob Kirkbride, 48, from Lytham, Lancashire, died after his paraglider wing, which is part of the parachute, collapsed shortly after take-off as 5mph wind speeds increased by up to five times at a renowned paragliding hill. Mr Kirkbride’s death was witnessed by his friend, a fellow paraglider, who ran to his aid when he saw him come crashing down. He was found unconscious on the ground and, despite efforts to revive him, was pronounced dead at the scene. Devastated: Angela Feehan has told how her partner, Rob Kirkbride, who fell 30ft to his death while paragliding, said to her: 'Wouldn't it be a good way to go' He died when his paraglider wing collapsed shortly after take-off as 5mph winds increased by five times . Only hours earlier Mr Kirkbride had kissed his partner, Angela Feehan, 42, goodbye at their home before setting off to a paragliding territory in Pendle Hill, Lancashire. The inquest in Blackburn was told the father-of-two had been a competent paraglider and had been paragliding for the last couple of years. After assessing the ‘benign’ weather conditions on December 4 he took to the skies using his new equipment which he had bought just a few weeks prior. The inquest was told that the equipment had not been at fault and his death amounted to a combination of changing winds, turbulence and convection that had caused his wing to collapse. Miss Feehan fought back tears after the inquest to say that he had been ‘an inspiration’. She said: ‘That morning was the same as every morning. I took him up a cup of tea and gave him a kiss. ‘I always said "be careful" and he would say: "but wouldn’t it be a good way to go". He died knowing I loved him and doing something he loved. He would take any opportunity he had to go and fly.’ Miss Feehan said: 'I always said "be careful" and he would say: "but wouldn't it be a good way to go" The friend who had accompanied Mr Kirkbride to Pendle Hill told the inquest that they had met through social media groups relating to the sport. He told the inquest that they had parked their car and walked a short distance to the position from which they were going to launch. But he said he had packed away his equipment after misjudging his own launch and injuring his ankle. He said: ‘The risk to any flying activity is that there is always a threat of an accident caused by the weather conditions, not doing the necessary checks, falling outside ability. ‘We took stock of the weather conditions and whether it was worsening or getting better. He deployed his equipment and I assumed he did the normal safety checks. He went into soaring pattern and soared across the front of the ridge. ‘He went went into hovering mode which indicated he was trying to come in to a landing. He flew across the face of the hill, gained a little bit of height and flew around and behind me. ‘I viewed half of his canopy collapse. He was flying forward, as he got to a level the whole right-hand side of the canopy collapsed under himself. It had half the capability of the wing. He travelled forward and down at speed at which point he impacted the ground. I didn’t see the impact.’ The inquest in Blackburn was told the father-of-two had been a competent paraglider and had been paragliding for the last couple of years . He told how he scrambled to his friend before calling the emergency services and performing CPR. North West Air Ambulance and Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue were also called to the scene. The inquest was told that Mr Kirkbride had been wearing a safety helmet and a broken head camera was found close to his body. No footage of his fall had been recorded. Post-mortem tests concluded he had died from multiple injuries including multiple bone fractures and a haemorrhage of the spinal chord. Technical manager for the British Hand GIiding and Paragliding Association Mark Dale was asked to prepare an analysis of the incident. He told the inquest that Mr Kirkbride’s wing had collapsed at a very low height which can occur if flying into turbulence. He added that the wind speed on the day had increased from 5-10mph to at least 18-25mph but ‘could quite probably have become even stronger’. Post-mortem tests concluded he had died from multiple injuries including multiple bone fractures and a haemorrhage of the spinal chord . He said: ‘Evidence suggests that the weather conditions seem suitable for flying initially but very rapidly become unsuitable. It is quite possible he was the first ever paraglider that attempted to top land that part of the hill in these wind speeds. Winds can change pace very rapidly. ‘It is quite clear that conditions were changing very rapidly, it can very easily lead to getting caught out. With ten years flying experience he may have looked at conditions and noticed that they were changing. They were surprisingly benign to begin with and rapidly became worse.’ He added that another pilot had chosen not to fly after assessing the wind that day. Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: ‘It seems to represent a very tragic accident. It is clearly a sport that with it brings some dangers, part of the exhilaration is the danger. It is tragic that some people end up paying the ultimate price.’
Engineer Rob Kirkbride, 48, from Lytham, is part of the parachute, collapsed shortly after take-off as 5mph wind speeds increased by up to him come crashing down. He was found unconscious was pronounced dead at the scene. Devastated: way to go' He died when his paraglider wing Kirkbride had kissed his partner, Angela Feehan, 42, goodbye at their home before setting off to a paragliding territory in Pendle Hill, Lancashire.