By Gary Cooper

A PARAGLIDER pilot escaped serious injury yesterday after crashing in the Angus hills.

The 46-year-old flyer, understood to be from the Kirriemuir area, sparked a frantic search-and-rescue operation after he contacted emergency services on his mobile phone to say he had come down on a hillside.

His brief call, before signal was lost, was initially passed to Grampian Police, who were told he had crash-landed somewhere in the Glen Clova area.

They immediately alerted their Tayside colleagues who took on the role of co-ordinating his recovery.

Police units were mustered and a helicopter from the Scottish Ambulance Service was scrambled following the call shortly before 2.30 pm.

As the emergency response was being planned, a Sea King helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth was put on standby, as was the Tayside Police search and rescue unit.

The paraglider pilot had taken off from Ben Reid, a 796-metre peak close to Loch Brandy and towering above the Clova Hotel.

He had set off in perfect conditions, with light winds and a few clouds.

From the flyer’s description of his direction of travel, possible location and through a triangulation based on his mobile phone signal, the search focus was firmly on nearby Glen Doll.

Constable Jim Tait, leader of the ground-based police search unit, was brought in to advise on the incident.

Poor mobile phone reception meant police were unable to glean any more information about the crash site from the pilot.

However, officers who arrived in the glen were given crucial information from two hillwalkers who had seen the stricken pilot circling around the Broom Hill-Dog Hillock area, overlooking an isolated property at Moulzie.

Two Kirriemuir-based officers took their all-terrain vehicle as far as they could along an estate path to Moulzie, before setting off on foot for the pilot’s position.

As they headed to the crash site the helicopter ambulance arrived to carry out a sweep of the area and quickly spotted the downed pilot.

The helicopter, which headed to the glens from the west coast, managed to land near the pilot.

A paramedic tended the casualty at the scene before he was strapped to a stretcher and lifted on board the aircraft.

It is thought the pilot had hurt his ribs in the crash-landing and was unable to walk off the hill.

On learning he had been airlifted, Tayside Police divisional inspector John Tasker, in charge of the incident, stood down the RAF rescue crew and the ground-based team.

The helicopter took the pilot to Ninewells Hospital where he was last night being treated for his injuries, which police said were believed to be “not serious.”