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 3344 entries for all wing types

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 26.11.2025	Pilot Male Age: 57 Rating: Unqualified Flying Experience: Under a year	Location Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Powered PG Wing: Dudek Orca 5 Launch Type: Powered Engine: Vittorazi, Moster 185	Summary A student undertaking a training flight on a paramotor trike at a non BHPA flying school became entangled in the upper branches of trees on the airfield periphery, and was attended to by the emergency services.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 25.11.2025	Pilot Male Age: 38 Rating: P Flying Experience: 8 years	Location Trentishoe, North Devon, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions:, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot launched in strong, gusty wind intending to use speedbar accelerator system to push forward as soon as they were in the pod. They reported that their "Tec Team QUICKY" accelerator separation system snagged during their cobra launch, activating the release and requiring the pilot to let go of the controls mid-flight to reconnect it whilst being blown over the back of the hill. They eventually landed without injury.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 17.11.2025	Pilot Female Age: 50 Rating: P Flying Experience: 34 years 2500 hours (80 hours)	Location Lords Seat, Derbyshire, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was attempting to 'scratch' back to takeoff and paraglider experienced a collapse in rotor in the lee of ground features on the site. The pilot hit a rock and rolled down the slope.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 09.11.2025	Pilot Male Age: 55 Rating: P Flying Experience: 35 years 5500 hours (150 hours) (300 flights)	Location Lowca, Whitehaven, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Other Wing: Flare Moustache 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot attempted a downwind tip drag shortly after take off. They were momentarily distracted by a knot in the wingtip line, misjudged their separation from the ground and struck a gulley, coming to a sharp stop.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Lumbar Spine
Date 25.10.2025	Pilot Male Age: 61 Rating: P Flying Experience: 30 years 450 hours (6 hours) (10 flights)	Location Westbury White Horse, Westbury, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Calm	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Zero 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot lost control of the paraglider during a launch and was dragged. On subsequent launch attempt, the pilot's emergency parachute fell out of its outer container. The flight was aborted without further incident. The pilot noted that the handle may have been released during the initial dragging and they did not ascertain it was stowed correctly before the second launch attempt.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 11.10.2025	Pilot Unknown	Location Sutton Meadows, Cambridgeshire, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Hang glider aerotow trolley N/A Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary The front right main wheel of an aerotow trolley failed when its steel spindle (previously repaired and reinforced) snapped at the hub shortly after the launched hang glider released the trolley. There were no injuries. Investigation revealed evidence of a long-developing crack that was only detectable by fully removing the wheel assembly. The incident reporter notes that the trolley design is similar to others used in the UK and potentially elsewhere.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 23.09.2025	Pilot Male Age: 35 Rating: P Flying Experience: 7 years 300 hours (17 hours) 500 flights (32 flights)	Location Mam Tor NW, Hope Valley, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Iota DLS Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot had climbed to approximately 3000ft in thermic lift and encountered turbulence. Their paraglider suffered a large asymmetric collapse, the risers twisting, preventing operation of the controls. The paraglider entered a spiral dive. The pilot made a successful deployment of their emergency parachute and landed without injury.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 21.09.2025	Pilot Male Age: 42 Rating: P Flying Experience: 9 years 1400 hours (30 hours) (20 flights)	Location Harting Down, West Sussex, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Sigma 11 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The paraglider suffered a frontal collapse in strong thermic lift whilst close to the ground. The wing re-inflated but due to the proximity of the ground the pilot was unable to recover from the dive and landed in a tree.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 14.09.2025	Pilot Male Age: 62 Rating: P Flying Experience: 8 years 140 hours (30 hours) 200 flights (25 flights)	Location El Bosque, Algodanales, Spain Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Arak 2	Summary Whilst setting up to land after a cross country flight, the pilot encountered thermic lift and turned, the turn taking them into turbulent air on the lee side of a building. They experienced a series of delations whilst attempting to fly away from the turbulent air. They managed to land without further incident.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt Passenger: Unhurt
Date 24.08.2025	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: P Flying Experience: 26 years 1000 hours (25 hours) (28 flights)	Location Nont Sarahs, Huddersfield, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: 777 R-light 3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot reported a large model aircraft being flown in close proximity to paragliders.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 17 December 2025

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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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