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.

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

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 3202 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 1 out of 321

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 04.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 41 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 1 year 32 hours (21 hours)	Location Crete Road, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Buzz Z6 Launch Type: Foot	Summary On approach to the landing field in conditions they described as becoming turbulent, the pilot opted to lose height by making dynamic turns and they inadvertently induced the paraglider to spin. It surged and recovered facing towards the hill and the pilot managed to land across the slope, the wing becoming entangled in bushes.	Injury Unhurt
Date 03.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 48 Rating: P Flying Experience: 3 years 571 hours (105 hours)	Location Long Mynd, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Camino 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot experienced a full frontal collapse when thermalling. The paraglider re-inflated with a large cravat. The pilot deployed their emergency parachute successfully.	Injury Unhurt
Date 31.07.2024	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 5 years 37 hours (5 hours)	Location Kettle Sings (East), UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: BGD Echo 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot reverse launched their paraglider in light conditions and experienced a strong pull to the left after take-off. Straight flight could only be made with right weight-shift and application of right-hand brake. They could not detect any knot in the lines or deformation of the wing. They proceeded to the landing area and landed without injury.	Injury Unhurt
Date 30.07.2024	Pilot Unknown	Location N/A, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Alpha 7	Summary During a routine service at a service centre, the technician identified a 2cm long reduction in thickness of a top level C suspension line (the line level which is connected directly to the wing). Further investigation revealed that there was a break in the inner (structural) core whilst the line sheath remained intact.	Injury Unhurt
Date 27.07.2024	Pilot Male Age: 45 Rating: P Flying Experience: 11 years 350 hours (11 hours)	Location Bassano, Italy Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Strong Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Flow Fusion Light Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot flew into a small landing area in thermic conditions and lost control of the paraglider in the final stage of flight. They noted that the paraglider felt "parachutal". They made two turns to lose height and experienced rapid descent to the ground where they sustained injury upon impact.	Injury Seriously Injured, Feet, Legs
Date 25.07.2024	Pilot Male Age: 52 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 36 years 1600 hours (15 hours)	Location Àger, Spain Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot overshot their planned landing area and found they were not able to penetrate in the stronger than expected headwind. They elected to land on the shoulder of a hill, but got too low. They were rotored into the back of the hill, resulting in a heavy landing.	Injury Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 21.07.2024	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 2 years 44 hours (11 hours)	Location Long Mynd, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Hiway Vision 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot found they were not gaining height and was concerned they would not clear the trees at the bottom of the hill. They chose to make a landing on a part of the ridge they considered fairly flat and the aircraft came to an unexpected sudden stop.	Injury Minor Injuries
Date 20.07.2024	Pilot Male Age: 64 Rating: P Flying Experience: 16 years 292 hours (4 hours)	Location Newhaven Cliffs, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Epsilon 9 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was ridge soaring in light conditions and caught the bottom their harness on the ground behind the cliff edge. The paraglider overflew the pilot who was dragged over the edge. The pilot came to rest on a shelf below the top of the cliff.	Injury Minor Injuries
Date 14.07.2024	Pilot Male Age: 57 Rating: P Flying Experience: 7 years 300 hours (60 hours)	Location Thurnham, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Artik 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot approached to slope land with speed, and sustained injury when they tripped in a rabbit hole.	Injury Seriously Injured, Feet, Legs
Date 08.07.2024	Pilot Unknown	Location N/A, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon	Summary The paraglider with less than 100hrs use was inspected by a service centre which reported multiple small tears to the leading edge material over the locations of stiffening rods. Further investigation revealed that this was likely to be due to abrasion of the leading edge over certain ground surfaces.	Injury Unhurt

Last updated: 9 September 2024

Displaying page 1 out of 321

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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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