Hang Glider

British Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association

Incident Reports - Informal Investigations

Incident reports received by the BHPA are available in summary form on this page. If you're looking for reports of formal investigations undertaken in the case of a serious incident, please visit our Incident Reports (formal investigations) page.

Incident reports are available in summary form for the following wing types:

Incident reports for all wing types are displayed below in summary form.

The BHPA incident reports database is fully searchable. To refine your search you can specify a particular wing type and select "or" or "and". For example, if you want to search for paraglider incidents at Hay Bluff, for best search results select paraglider from the drop down list and the "and" option.

or and

If available, total hours flown and hours flown in the previous six months are included below, with the latter displayed in brackets.

There are 3108 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 15 out of 311

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
16.09.2022

N/A,
UK
Other During repack, licensed packer noticed that the bridle had been removed from the parachute. The lines were connected directly to a maillon rapide. Problem had not been picked up on two previous repacks.

12.09.2022 Male

Age:
57

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
56 hours
(5 hours)

Levante SE landing field,
Spain

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence
Paraglider

Wing:
Axis
Pluto 2

Launch Type:
Foot
The pilot released big ears and gave two deep hard pumps on both brakes to attempt to clear the ears. The glider entered a stall and the pilot put hands up resulting in an immediate surge forward resulting in frontal collapse and rapid height loss.

Seriously Injured
11.09.2022 Male

Age:
70

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
10 years
24 hours
(2 hours)

Plaine Joux,
France

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Epsilon 8

Launch Type:
Foot
Pilot took off but had not fastened his leg loops. Pilot steered towards the trees with difficulty. Pilot crashed into trees and fell to the ground.

Seriously Injured
11.09.2022 Female

Age:
48

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
24 years
70 hours
(20 hours)

Rutland,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Epsilon 9

Launch Type:
Winch/vehicle Tow
Pilot was unable to release Gin tow bridal from winch line as the locking pin was inserted too far into the loop of the three ring circus. With the loop going over the eye of the locking pin. Winch operator cut line and pilot eventually 'S' turned down to land.

Unhurt
10.09.2022 Male

Age:
55

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
19 years
210 hours
(10 hours)

KittyHawk Aerodrome,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Airbourne
Sting 3

Launch Type:
Aero Tow
Tug suffered engine-out during aerotow. Tug released line to hang glider pilot who was initially unable to make a release due to lack of tension. Pilot held the line in his teeth to create tension and was then able to release the line. Further inspection showed the line caught in the open shackle due to it being aligned in the opposite direction to when being towed.

Unhurt
09.09.2022 Male

Age:
63

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
39 years
669 hours
(8 hours)

Llangollen,
UK

Wind Strength:
30-35 km/h

Conditions:
Strong,
Moderate Turbulence,
Thundery
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Avian
Evo3

Launch Type:
Foot
Pilot took off in 30 degree crosswind in windy and thermic conditions. Pilot turned left into the wind but encountered turbulent, lifting and sinking air. Pilot was unable to turn right, despite weight shift, before impacting the slope.

Seriously Injured,
Cervical Spine

02.09.2022 Male

Age:
63

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
33 years
600 hours
(50 hours)

Parlick East Face,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Light Turbulence
Paraglider

Wing:
BGD
Base 2

Launch Type:
Foot
Pilot encountered turbulence flying in strong conditions influenced by wave. Pilot lost control of the glider, which had possibly cravatted, and deployed his parachute. Pilot landed safely.

Unhurt
30.08.2022 Male

Age:
50

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
2 years

Treak Cliff,
UK

Wind Strength:
30-35 km/h
Paraglider Pilot flew in the lee of a spine back ridge in very windy conditions on the way to a landing field. Pilot experienced severe turbulence and deployed parachute. Pilot landed unhurt.

Unhurt
29.08.2022 Male

Age:
57

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
38 years
520 hours
(6 hours)

Pinnacle Hill,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Avian
Evo

Launch Type:
Foot
Pilot attempted to take off in breezy conditions using a nose man. On launching pilot realised that nose man had press on wires resulting in the nose angle being too low. Pilot tried to run but could not get the nose up. Base bar struck the ground and pilot swung through.

Minor Injuries,
Hands, Arms, Shoulder

28.08.2022 Male

Flying Experience:
4 years

Blaenavon,
UK
Paraglider

Wing:
Uturn
On transferring the pilots parachute to a new harness, a pull check revealed a manufacturing problem which meant the parachute wouldn't deploy. An incorrectly installed harness eyelet was left with open teeth that snagged on the fabric of the inner container making deployment impossible.

Pilot:
Unhurt

Passenger:
Unhurt
Go to: Incident Reports (formal investigations)
Go to: Annual Incident Analysis Reports
Last updated: 1 December 2023

Displaying page 15 out of 311

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