A DORSET army officer has plunged to his death in a paragliding tragedy.

Major Colin Petchey, 44, of Killicks Hill, Portland, was on an adventure training expedition in the French Alps when the accident happened.

French mountain police said he took off from Plan Praz in the Mont Blanc region at an altitude of 1,900 metres but fell to his death when his glider closed up in flight.

An Army investigation team has been sent to Chamonix to find out more about how the accident happened.

Major Petchey was a former Weymouth schoolteacher and his wife Tina is comforting their two sons Niall and Nathan.

Staff and students at All Saints School in Wyke Regis are mourning the loss of the former science teacher who taught there between 1997 and 2001.

Headteacher Tim Balmforth said: "We are devastated at school. He was highly respected by all the staff who worked with him. He was very much a larger than life character and full of energy."

Major Petchey joined the Royal Navy at 16 and served as an aircraft mechanic until leaving the service in 1986.

He then worked at Winfrith Technology Centre for several years before qualifying as a teacher.

During that time, he was a member of the Territorial Army and he left All Saints School after being selected for full-time service with the regular Army.

Major Petchey, of The Rifle Volunteers, was working at the Army's Land Warfare Centre at Warminster, Wiltshire, in the communications field, at the time of his death. His friend Captain Mick Jarrett, of the Devon and Dorset Regiment, said: "All the men who knew him are all very shocked.

"He enjoyed life to the full. He was a keen motorcyclist and a family man with strong family values. He was a straight forward guy with a great sense of humour."

Army spokesman David Harris said: "The loss of Colin has stunned us all. He was a fine colleague and friend with an innate spirit of adventure which never left him."

Major Petchey started paragliding two years ago.

David Daniels, secretary of the Wessex Hang-Gliding and Paragliding Club, said that Major Petchey began paragliding two years ago but joined the Wessex club in April.

He offered his condolences to Major Petchey's family.

Mr Daniels added: "We are saddened at his death in such a tragedy. Sadly, accidents do sometimes happen in this risky sport."