On Monday night 9/21/2020 at 7:43pm Station 38 with multiple Fire, Police and EMS units from the area were dispatched in the area of Brandywine Hostpital Grounds for a possible paraglider who came down in the wooded area. The initial report given to first responding units was that a paraglider that appeared to be coming in for a landing was too low and almost struck the chimney of the Huston Building on the grounds before going into a heavily wooded and swampy area and calls for help were heard.

Station 38 along with Police Officers from Caln and West Brandywine arrived and initially began to check the wooded area. Chief 38 arrived and established Brandywine Command and began to request additional resources to assist units currently on Scene. Over 150 Volunteers and a helicopter from Philly PD with FLIR (forward looking infrared) searched the wooded area and nearby fields for several hours trying to locate the potential paraglider in distress.

After several searches and many hours on scene, a tough decision was made to suspend the search efforts until later morning. Searching conditions became too tough with the heavy brush throughout and continual reduction in visibility. Around 5am, Police received a call from a bystander who believed was the one that crews spent the night searching for. The bystander had told police a safe landing was actually made and that they returned home and proceeded to bed, unaware of the large search effort. With the good news, the second search effort that was scheduled for later in the morning was called off. We are very happy for a positive outcome for this incident!

*Photos Courtesy of SMac Emergency Services Photography and IrishEyez Photog