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A professional acro-paraglider lost his life after his aircraft crashed into the sea off the coast of Jounieh, a tragedy that shocked both the sports community and the Lebanese public.
Omar Khaled Senger, a professional paraglider from Tripoli, lost his life on Wednesday while training alone in preparation for an international championship in Türkiye.
His parachute became tangled during a series of risky aerial maneuvers, preventing it from deploying, and he plunged directly into the sea.
He was later found in critical condition before succumbing to his injuries.
According to a statement issued by Lebanon’s Civil Defense, the central operations room received a report of a paraglider crash while its pilot was performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air.
Rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the site and carried out a thorough search of the area.
Within minutes, the victim was found about 15 meters (49.2 feet) from the shore and was confirmed dead at the scene.
He was regarded as one of Lebanon’s most prominent paragliding enthusiasts and was also the founder of the “Beirut Paragliding” page.
This is not the first such incident in Jounieh; a paraglider was also killed in the same area last May, according to local media reports.
The Jounieh incident raises renewed questions about safety standards in paragliding sports.
Paragliding in Lebanon, especially in Jounieh, where the mountains meet the sea, is one of the region’s most expensive sports, costing around $120 per flight.
The activity had been officially suspended for two months but was recently reinstated due to political pressure, sparking widespread backlash on social media.
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