The 46-year-old Westminster man killed while piloting a glider over Boulder late Friday afternoon is described by acquaintances as a former ski racer who “liked the thrill” and recently took up competitive gliding.
Daniel J. Tengdin, who friends said went by D.J., last year began participating in an online soaring competition that allows gilder, hang glider and paraglider pilots to compare their best flights with pilots around the world.
Tengdin was killed Friday afternoon after his glider turned sharply into high-voltage power lines, according to investigators. Witnesses said the glider banked sharply to the left before hitting the power lines east of Baseline Reservoir in unincorporated Boulder County around 5:15 p.m. Friday.
The glider came apart in the air, and debris littered open fields below, witnesses reported. National Transportation Safety Board investigators have said they’ll review every factor in trying to determine what caused the crash, including “man, machine and environment.”
Get more on this report at .
