When humans first broke free from the constraints of gravity, flight became the ultimate romance engraved in their genes. In the tourism industry, low altitude tourism is restructuring the traditional sightseeing mode. Low altitude tourism, as an emerging form of tourism, provides unique viewing experiences through low altitude aircraft such as helicopters, hot air balloons, and gliders, but it also comes with certain risks. This article analyzes the responsibility of operators, tourists, coaches and other entities when tourists are injured during low altitude tourism using paragliders.

1、 Case facts

Company A is a legal entity licensed to engage in general dangerous sports. Du, an outsider in the case, holds a paragliding qualification certificate and is a paragliding instructor for Company A. If Du helps Company A fly passengers, Company A will pay Du 200 yuan per person per trip.

On August 16, 2020, an outsider named Peng purchased two paragliding experience vouchers from Company A through a mobile software client, with Peng and Huang as the users.

A company employee sent a photo of the "Regulations on the Experience of Flying Tourists with Two People" to Huang through WeChat, which reads: "1. Tourists with high blood pressure, heart disease, and severe fear of heights are not allowed to experience flying;... 6. They must obey the command and wear protective equipment, including elbow pads, knee pads, safety seat bags, helmets, etc.; 7. During the parachute lifting process, they must obey the coach's command, run forward with all their strength until they fly out of the mountain, and there must be no jumping, sitting, or non-standard movements during the running process; 8. During the flight process, they must obey the coach's command, reduce the amplitude of their movements, and avoid unsafe factors;... 10. When landing, tourists must obey the coach's command and cooperate with the coach to complete a safe landing; 11. Insurance must be purchased before the experience. In case of any accidents, Accidents shall be handled in accordance with insurance regulations; 12. If unable to fly due to uncontrollable factors, all expenses except for insurance fees will be fully refunded; 13. Purchasing a two person flying experience card shall be deemed as agreeing to the above regulations.

Later, Huang and his flying instructor Du boarded a glider together to experience gliding flight, with the entire process being operated by the flying instructor. During the process of paragliding landing, a gust of wind suddenly occurred and it was not possible to land at the original landing location. The flying instructor chose to land in a fish pond through forced landing. During the landing process, Huang's body hit the mud wall around the fish pond and was injured.

2、 Court judgment result

The court held that Company A did not provide evidence to prove that its venue performance and other aspects met safety requirements, there were no safety hazards, and did not provide evidence to prove whether its coach's flying and operation behavior was standardized. Therefore, the defendant did not fully fulfill its safety guarantee obligations and should bear the main responsibility for Huang's losses. At the same time, as an adult with full capacity for civil conduct, Huang should be aware of the certain risks involved in high-altitude gliding experience projects, and he should fulfill his reasonable duty of care for his own safety. Taking into account the course of the accident and the degree of fault on both sides, this court has determined at its discretion that Company A bears 90% of the responsibility and Mr. Huang bears 10% of the responsibility on his own.

Regarding the application of Company A to add flight instructor Du as the defendant and assume compensation liability, the court holds that Du is responsible for guiding the tourists of Company A, and Company A pays a compensation of 200 yuan per person to Du. According to Du's statement, he has been guiding the paragliding base of Company A for a long time without signing a labor contract. Combining the statements of Company A and Du, the relationship between the two parties is a labor contract, and Du's flight is to fulfill his flight duties. If Huang is injured during his performance of labor services, Company A should bear compensation liability to Huang.

3、 Legal advice

According to Articles 1176 and 1198 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, operators shall fulfill their security obligations. If they fail to fulfill their security obligations and cause harm to others, they shall bear tort liability. However, Huang is a person with full capacity for civil conduct and should foresee risks and take reasonable preventive measures when participating in high-risk activities.

The paragliding activity in low altitude tourism is a high-risk sport. It is recommended that operators reduce risks through technological upgrades and institutional improvements, while transferring compensation pressure through insurance. As a participant, it is necessary to strengthen risk awareness, choose compliant institutions, and maximize the protection of one's own rights and interests.