How Rodrigo Raineri of Brazil died in a paragliding accident in Pakistan last week remains unclear. But the aftermath has turned messy.
The local expedition outfitter has been arrested, prompting a campaign among Pakistan operators for his release. The outfitters point their fingers at expedition leader Antoine Girard of France, who denies responsibility.
Rodrigo Raineri of Brazil. Photo: Rodrigo Raineri
There are several versions and no official report yet of how and why Raineri, 55, suffered a fatal crash in a cross-country (XC) paragliding accident. However, 24 hours after the accident, local media reported that Raineri had no permit to fly. Shigar district Deputy Commissioner Waliullah Falahi told Dawn.com that the deceased had “started the adventure from a mountain in Askole [and that he] didn’t have the permit for the activity.”
On his social media, Raineri mentioned that he was teaming up with XC pilots Antoine Girard and Veso Ovcharov. Check the post below. However, Raineri specified: “Each of us has a satellite locator, each one decides what they want to do, but we are a cohesive team and ready for action if someone needs help/rescue.”
Girard’s role
Antoine Girard is one of the most experienced cross-country pilots in Pakistan. He flew above Broad Peak in 2016 and 2021. This year, he planned to repeat the feat and also fly above K2. He was listed as expedition leader, but as he explains on his website, 8000Paragliding, his role is just to organize the logistics and to share his experience about high-altitude flights and Pakistan.
“Everyone must be autonomous in flight and on the ground and take their own responsibilities,” he explains. “In no case are you guided or under my responsibility.”
Outfitter in jail
Two days later, Ali Porik, owner of Jasmine Tours and vice-president of the Pakistan Association of Tour Operators (PATO), revealed that Ali Muhammad Saltoro, owner of Alpine Adventure Guides (one of Pakistan’s better-known outfitters), had been arrested after the accident. Porik forwarded this letter to ExplorersWeb, asking us to share it publicly.
Letter by the Pakistan Association of Tour Operators.
Ali Porik provided some context to the situation. The team of paragliders led by Antoine Girard had planned to fly cross-country from Goro-II, a camp along the trek to K2. For this, they needed a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from local authorities.
Since Goro II is several days on foot from a road, Alpine Adventure Guides applied for the NOC and provided the team with a trekking permit — needed to venture into the Baltoro — trusting the NOC would be granted by the time the paragliders reached their take-off point at Goro II.
The route to K2 Base Camp up the Baltoro, starting in Askole and with the daily camps marked. Map: Monkeystale.ca
Launched early
However, for some reason, part of the group set off from near Askole village before the expected date. The accident thus took place not at Goro-II but further down the Baltoro.
We asked Girard for his side of the story. He claimed the note issued by PATO was “false at 80%” and complained about “much false information and rumors relayed in the media.”
“The investigation is underway, and I am not allowed to speak,” Girard added. However, he did text with Cross-Country magazine over WhatsApp from Concordia on July 9. Here is some of that communication:
The weather was good on 4 July. All the members decided to fly. I instructed Rodrigo, Walid, Colleen and Romano to fly not further than Paju, as the upper part of the Baltoro requires more experience…The Askole/Paju part does not present any particular danger. The plan was safe and conservative for all members. We learned about the accident on the morning of 5 July. We contacted Ali [Saltoro] immediately and he told us to stay at Concordia until he solved the problem.
Going down to Skardu requires five or six days without phone or internet and we do not want to be accused of disappearing. We wanted to clarify the situation first, and then start walking down if required by the authorities.
We are devastated to know about this and we want to clarify the situation.
We had numerous conversations with the agency about the permits. They said we had permission to fly where we did. Porters from the agency even came with us to the launch and helped some of the pilots take off.
No one is responsible for the accident. When we fly, it’s our own responsibility.
Ali Muhammad Saltoro, owner of Alpine Adventure Guides. Photo: LinkedIn
Waiting for clarity
Cross Country noted that after the accident, two of the paying pilots left the trip while others continued toward Concordia. They also state that Giraud and Ovcharov have been told by authorities to stay in Concordia, where there is a Wi-Fi connection, in order to be available to the authorities.
Ovcharov told Cross Country that he intended to start trekking back to Skardu on Wednesday and that he would help clear up the facts and get Ali Muhammad Saltoro released.
