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Menlo Park firefighters disbanded their search for a distressed paraglider after a reported crash turned out to be a “near miss” above the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, according to Menlo Park fire spokesperson Gabe Schlice.
A pilot flying into San Carlos Airport reported a possible crash to air traffic control around noon Saturday, Jan. 17. Firefighters from Menlo Park, Woodside and Cal Fire searched SLAC and Stanford University’s nearby Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve looking for a downed aircraft.
Over an hour later, at 1:29 p.m., fire crews learned that the craft had landed safely at Palo Alto Airport. No injuries were reported.
SLAC’s entrance is on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, but the campus spreads across 426 acres.
Fire officials had staged ambulances and used a drone and several helicopters to try to locate the paraglider. Menlo fire officials also requested assistance from the California Highway Patrol.
While Schlice did not know the nature of the incident, he said a near-miss could mean several things, including that the pilot of the paraglider believing they were going to crash.
A representative from SLAC could not provide any information about the incident.
This story was updated after the search ended and the paraglider landed safely.
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