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 3221 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 1 out of 323

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 28.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: P	Location Herne Bay, 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 Unhurt
Date 15.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 48 Rating: CP	Location Eype, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Nova Ion 4	Summary The pilot elected to top land in a field adjacent to the normal launch, in conditions where the wind strength was increasing. The pilot noted they were unable to push forward. Their wing was seen to collapse in rotor behind the cliff edge, and the pilot impacted the ground, sustaining injury.	Injury Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 14.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 34 Rating: P Flying Experience: 10 years 350 hours (35 hours)	Location Draycott, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Sigma 11 Launch Type: Foot	Summary After take-off, the pilot became aware that their harness pod would not close correctly and identified that an instrument tether line had tangled with a pod closure line, preventing the pod from closing. The pilot was able to correct the issue in flight.	Injury Unhurt
Date 14.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 70 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 35 years 1000 hours (17 hours)	Location Northrepps Airfield, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence, Leeside	Wing Type Powered HG Wing: Aeros Adam 13-T Launch Type: Powered Engine: VITTORAZI, MOSTER 185 MY20	Summary The engine of the wheeled Sub 70 SPHG failed whilst on final approach. The aircraft encountered sinking air and the pilot opted to make an emergency landing in another field. The aircraft sustained damage on landing.	Injury Minor Injuries, Pelvis
Date 12.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 67 Rating: P Flying Experience: 3 years 193 hours (65 hours)	Location Worcester Beacon, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Zoom X2C Launch Type: Foot	Summary Controlled airspace infringement. The pilot was formally debriefed after this incident, and reminded about the importance of observing airspace limits. The flight was excluded from all BHPA competition scoring.	Injury Unhurt
Date 07.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: P Flying Experience: 14 years 1000 hours (20 hours)	Location Unknown, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h	Wing Type Powered PG Wing: Paramania Revo 3 Launch Type: Powered Engine: Minari	Summary The paramotor pilot experienced an engine failure shortly after launch and landed in long grass where they sustained injury.	Injury Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 03.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: P Flying Experience: 9 years 500 hours (60 hours)	Location Le Chalvet, France Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was competing in the British & Dutch Open Paragliding Championships. During the flight they found themselves low in a heavily wooded valley and landed uneventfully on a dry riverbed.	Injury Unhurt
Date 31.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 50 Rating: P Flying Experience: 15 years 391 hours (8 hours)	Location Tinto (South), UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Air Design Rise 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot fell over on take off and sustained injury.	Injury Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 30.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 65 Rating: P Flying Experience: 23 years 170 hours (5 hours)	Location Not applicable, UK	Wing Type Other Wing: Woody Valley Tenax 3 / Tenax 4 harnesses	Summary During an inspection of the inside trim system on a Woody Valley Tenax 3 hang-gliding harness, it was discovered that one of the bolts that attach the posts to the backplate had become loose, allowing considerable movement of the post. A BHPA Safety Advisory (SC019) for the Woody Valley Tenax 3 (with "inside trim") and Tenax 4 harnesses has been issued. See the relevant page of the BHPA website for mare details.	Injury Unhurt
Date 22.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 25 Rating: Unqualified Flying Experience: Under a year	Location Buching, Germany Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Independence Cruiser 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Shortly after launch the pilot noticed that their emergency parachute had come out of the front-mounted outer container. The pilot was able to stow the parachute between their thighs, and they landed without further incident.	Injury Unhurt

Last updated: 15 October 2024

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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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