PUEBLO, Colo. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife park rangers have recovered the body of a paraglider who crashed Saturday while skimming the surface of the water at Lake Pueblo State Park.

Authorities say a call for help came in around 8:30 a.m. Saturday after witnesses saw two paragliders crash near Pedro’s Point. Both paragliders were reportedly skimming the lake’s surface and dangling their feet when they went down.

According to Lake Pueblo Park Manager Joe Stadterman, one of the paragliders was able to escape the wreckage and survived. The other became tangled in the parachute, fan and ropes of the paraglider and appeared to have drowned.

CPW rangers located the pilot and recovered his remains. The body was turned over to Pueblo County Coroner’s office for identification and an official determination of the cause of death.

“This is a tragic loss of life,” Stadterman said. “And it underscores the importance of being extremely careful around the water. If you are fishing on the shore, boating or even gliding over the water, we strongly urge you to wear a life jacket.”

If a drowning is confirmed by the coroner, it would be the ninth drowning in Colorado in 2021. Seven of the drownings have been on reservoirs, lakes or ponds. Two have occurred in swift water.

Colorado experienced its worst year on the water ever in 2020 when 34 people drowned.