A 21-year-old Illinois man has died after his paraglider crashed into a field, prompting an outpouring of grief from his family, friends and the close-knit paragliding community.
Giovanni Lopez was killed Saturday afternoon in Plainfield, a town located roughly 35 miles southwest of Chicago.
The Plainfield Police Department said officers were called to the scene at approximately 2:57 p.m. following reports of a paragliding crash.
The Kendall County Coroner’s Office arrived at about 3:40 p.m. and pronounced Lopez dead at the scene. His identity was released publicly later that day.
An autopsy will determine Lopez’s official cause and manner of death. Police are continuing to investigate what led to the crash.
Lopez was passionate about paragliding and regularly shared photographs and videos of his flights on social media.
Some posts showed him calmly gliding above the landscape, while others captured him attempting dramatic spins and aerial maneuvers.
Curtis Haley, 33, a friend and fellow paraglider, remembered Lopez as “a selfless, kind individual who would do nothing but help people,” he told the Daily Mail.
Giovanni Lopez, 21, died Saturday afternoon after a paragliding crash in Plainfield, Illinois
Lopez frequently posted photos and videos from his flights on social media. He is shown performing a mid-air spin
Haley said he and Lopez—whom he affectionately called “Gio”—had become close over the past year after meeting unexpectedly through the sport.
“I had an emergency landing myself, and I was standing in the middle of the field not knowing what to do, and this random pilot flew by that I’d never met before. He saw me, he landed, and sure enough he helped me,” Haley recalled.
Lopez’s death has been especially painful for Haley and the small, tightly connected paragliding community, he said.
“This whole circumstance and situation is hard to believe, and I’m at a loss for words,” Haley said. He added that he and Lopez had last flown together on Tuesday.
“I literally couldn’t sleep last night at all. I’ve been up since 3 a.m. I might’ve gotten 15 to 30 minutes of sleep,” he said.
After hearing that a paraglider had crashed—but before the victim’s identity was confirmed—Haley began calling friends across the local paragliding community to make sure they were safe.
When he called Lopez, however, there was no response. “He didn’t answer. He didn’t answer over and over,” Haley said, explaining that he tried between 15 and 20 times.
Haley’s fiancée went to the crash site and saw Lopez’s glider on the ground, confirming their fears that he had been involved.
Friend Curtis Haley remembered Lopez as “a selfless, kind individual who would do nothing but help people.” Lopez is pictured paragliding
Haley said he called Lopez 15 to 20 times without receiving an answer after learning about the crash but before the victim was identified. Lopez is pictured flying
Haley, who recently became engaged to a fellow paraglider, described the fatal incident as “a wake-up call.”
He said members of the paragliding community remain in disbelief and have been sharing their grief in group chats and private conversations.
Haley has been paragliding for about four years, while Lopez began participating in the sport in May 2025.
Both men attended flight school, which Haley said taught them how to fly properly and take every possible safety precaution.
Lopez, he added, had progressed quickly and was already “a skilled pilot.”
Haley said pilots can make paragliding as safe as possible by conducting thorough pre-flight checks, ensuring their equipment is working correctly and confirming that weather conditions are suitable.
Although Haley declined to speculate about what caused the crash, he acknowledged the risks involved. “Anything can happen,” he said.
“We do have intercoms that warn us of aircraft and air traffic, weather conditions and all of that,” Haley explained.
Haley said “anything can happen” while paragliding and warned that “Mother Nature can be brutal.” Lopez is pictured spinning in a video he posted
“But that can’t account for lakefront gusts, and Mother Nature can be brutal and can do different things at different times.”
The Daily Mail has contacted the Plainfield Police Department for comment and further information about the crash.