Paraglider pilot hurt in Pine Mountain crash-landing

A paraglider pilot from Nevada was taken to the hospital after he called 911 to report being injured in an emergency landing Sunday afternoon on Pine Mountain, about 25 miles east of Bend, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a call shortly before 4:30 p.m. from Michael Lee, 34, of Reno, Lt. Mike Biondi said.

Sheriff’s deputies, a Forest Service law enforcement officer and Bend Fire Department paramedics responded and located Lee on the east side of Pine Mountain, Biondi said.

Lee told officials he launched his non-motorized paraglider, similar in shape to a parachute, from the west side of Pine Mountain, but got caught in unpredictable winds and landed on the east side, outside of his designated landing zone.

Lee was evaluated by medics for non-life-threatening injuries and taken by ambulance to St. Charles Bend for observation, Biondi said. A house supervisor said he was expected to be released after tests and treatment.