A DREAM family holiday ended in tragedy when a doting dad died in a horrific paragliding accident.

Family man Glenn Hudson, from Wivenhoe, fell 50 metres on to a beach when his safety harness snapped.

Daughter Emma, 25, was in the air alongside her father, holding on to the same rope, as the pair were towed by a speedboat at the Mediterranean resort of Side, in Turkey.

She said: “We were up there for ten minutes and suddenly he dropped. I was right next to him, we’d been chatting happily and then he was gone.

“I was screaming, but it didn’t seem like I was screaming. It didn’t seem to take long for him to hit the beach.

“It was all unreal. It took a few moments before I realised what was going on. Then it seemed to take forever to get me down. Dad was lying on the beach below and I was still dangling above.”

An investigation has been launched into Mr Hudson’s death, with prosecutors claiming safety equipment used was not up to scratch.

A Turkish witness says she saw workers trying to hide the harness in the aftermath of the accident. Mr Hudson’s widow, Linda, last night vowed to see justice done.

She said: “I know my husband wouldn’t want me to let him die for nothing. I won’t let this go and I will fight for better safety regulations.

“Even if it saves one more life, it will have been worth it.”

Mr and Mrs Hudson had been on a family holiday with Emma, their son Benn, 22, and Benn’s girlfriend, Jo Clarke, and were staying in a holiday apartment they own in Side.

Mr Hudson, 50, was a big fan of paragliding and persuaded Emma to go up with him at about 3pm on Saturday.

Mrs Hudson stayed on the beach and took pictures of her husband with his daughter as he climbed into the speedboat.

She said: “I normally sit in the boat while he is up in the air, but I had a really bad neck.

“I watched them for a little while and then I pulled a sunbed under a parasol and lay down.

“All of a sudden I heard my daughter screaming. She was running up the beach with all the paragliding gear still on and she just said ‘dad’s fallen’.

“My husband had bad legs and I thought she just meant he had fallen out of the boat.”

The family were ushered away from the accident scene.

Mrs Hudson, of Westlake Crescent, has appointed a Turkish solicitor and said she intended to sue once the criminal investigation had been completed.

She was shocked after reading on the internet about several other paragliding deaths in Turkey in the past few years.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said last night the Turkish authorities continued to investigate the matter.