Jean hang gliding crash victims from Hawaii, New Mexico
The hang-gliding instructor and his 11-year-old student who died Friday afternoon during a hang gliding accident near Jean have been identified by the Clark County coroner’s office.
John Kelly Harrison, 55, of Hawaii, and Arys Moorhead, of Farmington, N.M., were hang gliding on a dry lake bed near Sloan Road and Interstate 15 when they were injured about 2:50 p.m., the Nevada Highway Patrol said.
A family from out of state had scheduled a tour with a company that tethers hang gliders to the back of a truck to get them in the air, Metro Capt. Peter Boffelli said Friday. The name of the company was not disclosed.
Harrison and Arys were in the air when the truck pulling the glider turned around abruptly, police said. The truck’s driver thought the tether had been released, as is usually done by the person in the glider. The glider then crashed because the tether was not released, Boffelli said.
Harrison died at the scene.
Arys’ family loaded him into a truck and were on their way to a Las Vegas hospital when they saw a Highway Patrol vehicle on the side of the road, about 10 miles from the crash site, and stopped. Arys died in the truck after NHP troopers tried to save his life.
Harrison was the founder and chief instructor of Las Vegas Hang Gliding School and had been hang gliding consistently since 1980, according to the school’s website.
“We’ve taken up those ranging from 8 years old to age 80,” the website said of tandem flight age limits. According to the site, Harrison was certified as an instructor by the U.S. Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, a private membership organization with no governmental authority.
He was experienced in rafting, skiing, kayaking, scuba diving and surfing, was lifeguard certified and had also worked as an emergency medical technician. He was also a licensed single-engine plane private pilot, the flying school site said.
According to the site, Harrison traveled back and forth between Las Vegas and Hawaii, where he had a kayak club and watersports retail store.
Metro and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.
Review-Journal writer Kimber Laux contributed to this report. Contact Cassandra Taloma at ctaloma@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @CassandraTaloma.