Paragliding
British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association logo

British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association

safety
incidents
reports

Incident Reports (Informal)

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.

Airglow

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.

If you want to search by incident date, please enter the day, month and year numerically as dd-mm-yyyy (eg. 03-12-2019).

or and

If known, total hours and total flights flown are displayed below together with hours and flights flown in the past six months, the latter being displayed in brackets.

There are 3239 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 1 out of 324

[ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
29.12.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
43

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
2 years

30 hours
(15 hours)

55 flights
(38 flights)

Location
Dunstable Downs,
Dunstable,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Buzz Z 7

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was soaring in increasing wind strength and was blown back. They attempted to activate the accelerator system however the Brummel hook was detached on one side rendering the speed bar inoperative. They opted to turn downwind and descended rapidly to land in some brambles in a small public park.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
14.12.2024

Pilot
Male

Rating:
Unknown

Location
Westbury White Horse,
Westbury,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Unknown paraglider
Unknown

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was seen attempting to launch their paraglider during a gust and was dragged over the launch area into a wooden bench. They were assisted by other pilots. If any injuries, they are unknown. No further information available.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
14.12.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
65

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
40 years


Location
North Luffenham airfield,
Rutland,
UK

Wing Type
Other

Wing:
Companion
SQR 120

Summary
During an emergency parachute repack event the deployment was tested and failed as the Companion inner container deployment bag (containing the packed EP) could not be extracted from the harness (handle strop too short). The inner container supplied with the Gin Genie Lite 3 harness was substituted, and the extraction of the EP was tested as satisfactory.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
04.12.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
66

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
50 years

500 hours
(13 hours)

1000 flights
(9 flights)

Location
Easterton,
Elgin,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Strong Turbulence,
Leeside

Wing Type
Powered HG

Wing:
Grif
3DC

Launch Type:
Powered

Engine:
Grif,
Snake

Summary
The pilot attempted to land their wheeled undercarriage powered HG ("Sub 70") in conditions they described as cross wind and turbulent. The landing was fast with some lateral drift. The nose wheel sheared off resulting in rapid deceleration as the undercarriage tube (trike keel) dug into soft ground.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
14.11.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
67

Rating:
AP

Location
Bo Peep,
Sussex,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Sigma 10

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot experienced an asymmetric collapse in turbulent air during a ridge soaring flight. They were unable to deploy their emergency parachute in time and impacted the ground, sustaining injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
24.10.2024

Pilot
Age:
51

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
12 years

800 hours
(45 hours)

Location
Bir Billing,
Himachal Pradesh,
India

Conditions:
Strong

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Rush 6

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was attempting to top land in thermic conditions and inadvertently ended up behind the front lip of the ridge, in rotor. The paraglider experienced an asymmetric collapse on approach to land. The pilot struck the ground hard and sustained injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Thoracic Spine

Date
19.10.2024

Pilot
Male

Rating:
P

Location
Rybury,
Alton Barnes,
UK

Wind Strength:
30-35 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
U-Turn
Blackout

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was seen to initiate an acro manoeuvre at ridge height and was unable to recover to normal flight before impacting the hillside.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
18.10.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
64

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
7 years

243 hours
(57 hours)

205 flights
(49 flights)

Location
Poniente North,
Algodonales,
Spain

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Chili 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The paraglider entered a spin and the pilot applied control inputs to regain normal flight. The wing began to spiral dive. The pilot was not able to effect a recovery, or deploy their emergency parachute, before impact.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
17.10.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
73

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
24 years

168 hours
(19 hours)

433 flights
(21 flights)

Location
The Terrace,
Chale, Isle of Wight,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Very Strong Turbulence,
Leeside

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Iota 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was attempting to fly back to the take-off area, and flew into rotor. Whilst attempting to fly out of the rotor area, they induced a stall near to the ground and landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Lumbar Spine

Date
17.10.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
57

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
21 years

450 hours
(40 hours)

750 flights
(25 flights)

Location
Oludeniz,
Oludeniz,
Turkey

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Chilli 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
An in-flight video shows the pilot's emergency parachute handle had become detached from its normal mounting position on their SupAir Delight 4 harness during an SIV manoeuvre (the pilot stated they had checked the retaining pins were properly engaged as part of their pre-flight check). Upon landing touchdown, the emergency parachute fell out of the harness's parachute container.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 1 out of 324

[ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

A number of incident analysis reports are also available in the safety section of our website. These are compiled from the individual incident reports submitted during the course of each year.

 

Skywings Magazine Online
Submit an Incident Report
BHPA Pilot Handbook
The BHPA is a members of the Royal Aero Club
The BHPA is a member of the European Hang Gliding and Paragliding Union
The Civil Aviation Authority Drone and Model Aircraft Code
The General Aviation Safety Council Flight Safety Magazine

© British Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association 2004 - 2025