British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association

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.

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

• All Wing Types
• Paraglider
• Flexwing Hang Glider
• Rigid Hang Glider
• Speedrider
• Speedflyer/Miniwing
• Powered PG
• Powered HG
• Other

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).

All Wing Types Paraglider Flexwing Hang Glider Rigid Hang Glider Speedrider Speedflyer/Miniwing Powered PG Powered HG Other

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 3234 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 1 out of 324

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
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 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: 6 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: 23 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: 20 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
Date 10.10.2024	Pilot Male Age: 56 Rating: P Flying Experience: 2 years 172 hours (65 hours) 282 flights (92 flights)	Location Ingleborough, Ingleton, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Chili 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot experienced a large asymmetric collapse whilst scratching close to the hill. They impacted on rocks, sustaining injury.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 03.10.2024	Pilot Male Age: 85 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 34 years 1000 hours (20 hours) 999 flights (30 flights)	Location Hownam Law, The Cheviots, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Delta 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot elected to top land in gusty conditions. The wind was reported to be perpendicular to the hill. The pilot was dragged on touchdown and sustained injury.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Head Injuries
Date 28.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: P	Location Herne Bay, Kent, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Unknown Unknown Launch Type: Foot	Summary The airborne pilot submitting the report had to take action to avoid an aerial conflict with a pilot who had just launched into their flightpath.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 28.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 56 Rating: P Flying Experience: 19 years 3000 hours (120 hours) 3000 flights (80 flights)	Location Carlton Bank, Stokesley, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot lost control of the paraglider during a reverse launch.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 28.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 69 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 48 years 270 hours (5 hours) 600 flights (30 flights)	Location Mendlesham, Wetherup Street, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport 3 Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary The pilot lifted the glider in preparation for a tow launch and the control frame came apart. The launch was aborted. Upon inspection, the pilot noted that the basetube and its end bracket were not correctly fastened together and the Wheel Retro Kit was incorrectly installed.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 2 December 2024

Displaying page 1 out of 324

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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.

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