Man Killed While Paragliding Identified

A man killed in a paragliding accident was identified by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office Thursday as 48-year-old Henry Ho of Windsor, CO.

Ho was taking a paragliding lesson Wednesday when he was thrown against a rock-covered berm south of Seacoast Drive, according to Lt. Marco Garmo with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Imperial Beach substation.

Lifeguards, paramedics and other agencies responded but were unsuccessful in attempts to revive Ho. He was declared dead at 4:20 p.m.

According to witnesses, Dell Schanze, also known as SuperDell, was present and may have been leading the paragliding lesson, Garmo said. Schanze was reached by phone by IB Patch Thursday but declined to comment until an investigation concluded. 

The death is currently being treated as an accident. No one has been charged with a crime, Garmo said.

Following jumps by Schanze from the tops of vacation rental homes not far from the Imperial Beach Pier in spring 2012, the City of Imperial Beach passed an emergency ordinance which took effect immediately and prohibited the launch of ultralight vehicles.

Using the emergency ordinance approved unanimously by the Imperial Beach City Council as justification, Schanze's business license to teach lessons was rejected.

In the application submitted to the City of Imperial Beach last year, Schanze said he wanted to teach short glides towards the ocean, to fly to the Coronado islands and the ability to fly from any residential home in the city, according to director of the Public Safety Department Tom Clark.

Schanze did not encounter his first brushes with controversy in Imperial Beach. 

Since April videos have emerged of Schanze allegedly kicking a bird while he flew a paramotor device and shooting while flying, a violation of Utah state law.