FLORENCE, Ala. — Police say one person was injured Monday after a hang glider crashed in the vicinity of the Florence High School campus.
In a Facebook post made Monday afternoon, police said they received a call around 8 a.m. about a suspicious aircraft flying near the campus. School resource officers and patrol officers responded and observed the hang glider. Photos taken by police show the hang glider as they sink closer and closer to the ground.
Florence City Schools confirmed there was no lockdown activated as a result of the incident. Resource officers and the school principal monitored the glider's proximity to the school during their descent.
About 15 minutes later, police said a call came in for medical assistance connected to the crash of the hang glider near the 4100 block of Rushton Street, some three miles away from the high school campus.
First responders arrived to find the hang glider operator, identified only as a man, alert and conscious. Police did not reveal the man's condition but said he had been flown by medical helicopter for further care. No other people were injured as a result of the crash.
According to statistics published by Smithsonian Magazine, there is an estimated fatality rate of one per thousand participants. The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association notes the sport is unregulated; due to that, there are no firm statistics on how many flights are made each year.
More information on the history and evolution of history related to the sport can be found on the USHPA's website.