UTAH COUNTY — A 59-year-old man from California died after crashing a paraglider into Utah Lake near Saratoga Springs Friday evening.
According to information from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, search and rescue crews were dispatched just after 6 p.m. on a report of a man who crashed into Utah Lake while paragliding. The release states the man was about 150 feet in the air while being towed behind a boat near the south end of Saratoga Springs when the crash occurred.
The victim has been identified as Siegfried C. Muhlhauser of Murrieta, California.
Witnesses told emergency responders the man was, “conducting ‘drills’ designed to simulate responding to in-flight emergencies when something happened and the paraglider fell into the water.”
The man was under water for several minutes before witnesses were able to get him into a boat. He was not breathing and bystanders began CPR. Personnel from Saratoga Springs Fire and Rescue and Lehi Fire responded and tried to revive the man.
Rescue efforts were not successful, and the victim died at the scene. The body will be taken to the Utah Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death.
