Hang Glider Crashes at Elementary School

A hang glider is in critical condition after suffering major head injuries when he crashed at an elementary school in Concord Sunday afternoon.

The crash happened at about 3:20 p.m. at Mountain View Elementary School, Concord police Lt. Steve Dyer said.

Two witnesses who were at the school said they saw 49-year-old Christopher McKeon piloting a hang glider circling a campus field. He was apparently looking for somewhere to land when he suddenly dropped about 30 feet to the ground and landed on an asphalt walkway that surrounds the field, Dyer said.

McKeon was wearing a helmet but suffered major facial and head injuries. He was unconscious when paramedics arrived to take him to John Muir Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition.

McKeon launched from Mount Diablo with several others as part of a hang gliding club but got seperated from the group, the Contra Costa Times reports. He had a parachute, but it was not deployed before the crash, Dyer said.

A few days before McKeon crashed, another hang glider crashed at Mount Diablo. That man's injuries were not life-threatening.

Authorities have not determined what sent McKeon's craft crashing to the ground.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

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