Paragliding festival gets first Ghanaian pilot

By Edmund Smith-Asante

Jonathan Agyen Quaye

The prayer of Kwahu chiefs for Ghana to have its own paragliding pilots to sustain the 11-year-old paragliding festival atop the Odweanoma Mountain at Kwahu-Atibie seems to have been answered earlier than expected.

Jonathan Agyen Quaye, 34, the answer to the prayer, was the toast of guests at the start of this year’s festival on Friday, when he did a solo demonstration flight that drew applause from all onlookers.

Just halfway the runway, he was airborne at exactly 11:52am and at exactly 12noon, he had landed smoothly at the Nkawkaw football park, the designated landing area which can be viewed from on top the mountain.

Training

In an interview with Graphic Online, Mr Quaye, who was the eighth pilot to take off during the opening of this year’s festival, said he received his six-month training in paragliding in India in 2015.

“I decided to go into the sports because I have the passion for it and I love the outdoors so I decided to go and learn the sports on my own,” Mr Quaye said.

He said his desire for paragliding was whipped up in 2005 after his first ever passenger flight during the first paragliding festival at Atibie. Since then he has built on that interest and learnt more about paragliding till he finally got the opportunity to learn in India.

Writer’s email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh

This story was first published by the graphiconline.com on March 28, 2016