Paraglider crashes on cliff at Torrey Pines

A paraglider suffered a possibly broken leg when she crashed into a cliff north of the Torrey Pines Gliderport Saturday afternoon, a San Diego lifeguard said.

A witness called 911 about 3:10 p.m. to report the accident.

The 36-year-old woman was flying a paraglider about 30 feet above the cliffs when she hit air turbulence about 200 yards north of the gliderport, Lifeguard Service Lt. John Sandmeyer said.

The sail began to collapse, and when the woman was about 15 feet above the cliff face, she dropped suddenly and landed hard about 40 feet from the top, Sandmeyer said.

Lifeguards and firefighters set up a series of ropes to help haul her up in a stretcher. Sandmeyer said the slope was at a low angle, so the rescue was not difficult, but took close to an hour. Paramedics took her to a hospital.