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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.

Aerocycle

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 3235 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
24.10.2024

Pilot
Age:
51

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
11 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:
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

Last updated: 12 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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