A champion hang glider was killed in a freak accident after colliding with a paraglider in midair over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday.

Two-time Brazilian hang-gliding champion Philip Eric Haegler, 59, was knocked off course by the collision, smashed into a building, and was knocked unconscious before falling 11 stories to his death, according to reports from local outlets .

Emergency crews rushed to the scene but were unable to save the champion hang-glider.

The police told the local outlet they believed windy conditions were the cause of Haegler’s accident, not a crash with another paraglider.

But Bruno Menescal, president of São Conrado Free Flight Club, said the collision precipitated the fatal fall.

“We had a collision … which led to this incident,” Menescal said in Portugues

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