Man dies after crashing powered parachute into tree

One man is dead after a powered parachute he was piloting crashed into a tree in Crow Wing County.

On Wednesday at around 6:32 p.m., the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office responded to the North Central Speedway in Crow Wing Township for a paramotor, or powered parachute, crash.

Authorities say that the pilot, 81-year-old Wayne Kyar, crashed his paramotor into a tree. A witness stated that the paramotor seemed to have suffered a mechanical failure and Kyar glided into a tree as he was losing altitude.

Kyar then fell from a height of about 50 feet, according to officials. Paramedics and first responders performed life-saving measures, but he died of his injuries around 7:16 p.m.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified of the incident.