A paragliding instructor was killed and a tourist seriously injured after they crashed into the hills ringing a lake in Mussoorie last evening.

Instructor Vinod Kumar, 41, and Delhi’s Sanchit Sharma, 34, apparently lost control and crashed from a height of 130 metres while gliding over Mussoorie lake around 7pm.

Kumar, who was from Himachal Pradesh, died in a nursing home in Dehra Dun, 35km from Mussoorie. Doctors said Sharma’s condition was serious.

Operators in Mussoorie, where paragliding is popular among tourists, said this was the first major accident in recent times. The crash has raised questions on the adventure sport’s safety.

The paragliding operators and their equipment have also come under the scanner.

“We have ordered a probe. We don’t know what caused the fall but we will check the instruments of the paragliding agencies,” Amit Sinha, the Dehra Dun SSP, said.

A police spokesperson said Sharma and Kumar had crashed into the rocks on the hills around the lake.

Kumar was working for Skywing Paragliding, one of the many operators near the lake. Sharma’s family was waiting nearby when the two went for the flight.

Skywing termed the accident “unfortunate”. “The paraglider was hovering for a while and suddenly lost control,” a spokesperson said.

Other operators said it was difficult to predict the risks as many factors were involved — the flying conditions, individual gliding prowess, instructor’s skills and quality of the equipment.