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 3287 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 17 out of 329

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 18.02.2024	Pilot Male Age: 24 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 11 years (1 flight)	Location Haig Pit, Whitehaven, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance IOTA Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot encountered sinking air whilst attempting to ridge soar and decided to fly to the take-off area. They lost altitude and prepared for a downwind side slope landing, resulting in a foot fracture on impact. Reflecting on the experience, the pilot highlighted that there had been a long period when they had not flown, and they chose to fly in lightweight trainers rather than their normal flying boots.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 17.02.2024	Pilot Unknown	Location N/a, N/a, UK	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes Matrix harness	Summary The pilot was recommended to sew the Emergency Parachute deployment handle supplied with their new harness to the inner container supplied by the Emergency Parachute manufacturer. The recommendation was queried by an Emergency Parachute Systems licence holder who was undertaking the installation of the packed parachute.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 12.02.2024	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: P Flying Experience: 26 years 850 hours (75 hours) 500 flights (30 flights)	Location Dunstable, Dunstable, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Chili 3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot launched in strong conditions. The wind speed increased during the flight and the pilot was blown back into an area of rotor despite attempting to descend with big ears and full speed bar applied. The pilot landed in a tree.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 11.02.2024	Pilot Male Age: 44 Rating: Unqualified Flying Experience: 3 years 26 hours (9 hours) 94 flights (26 flights)	Location Nid d'Agile, Morocco Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: BGD Echo Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot over-corrected a turn on top landing approach and landed heavily on one leg, sustaining minor injuries.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 10.02.2024	Pilot Male Age: 71 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 33 years 1800 hours (25 hours) (15 flights)	Location Barton on Sea, Hampshire, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Mantra 7 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was soaring the sea front in light conditions at high tide. As the lift was diminishing they prepared for a bottom landing. They landed on a narrow strip of land available just above the beach to avoid the risk of the wing entering the sea. After landing, the pilot received assistance from the Coastguard to reach the cliff top.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 01.02.2024	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: P Flying Experience: 18 years 900 hours (42 hours) 1000 flights (12 flights)	Location Los Tanques, Roldanillo, Colombia Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Very Strong, Strong Turbulence, Thundery	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Explorer 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary During a competition flight the pilot encountered severe turbulence leading to an asymmetric collapse and subsequent spin. The pilot deployed their emergency parachute and landed in trees.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 01.02.2024	Pilot Male Age: 64 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 18 years 1000 hours (50 hours) (15 flights)	Location Roldanillo, Roldanillo, Colombia Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Very Strong, Strong Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot sustained minor injuries when deploying their emergency parachute as the bridle went under their arm. Upon landing they slid down a slope, sustaining further minor injuries.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 31.01.2024	Pilot Male Age: 44 Rating: P Flying Experience: 18 years 2000 hours (100 hours) 300 flights (30 flights)	Location Aquapanela, Roldanillo, Colombia Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Boomerang 12 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The speed system on one side of the paraglider had jammed, leading to a loss of control, accelerated spiral and riser twist. The pilot deployed their "Rogallo" type emergency parachute and experienced limited steering control due to the part of the paraglider still inflated. The paraglider contacted power lines and was damaged, however the pilot was not injured.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 30.01.2024	Pilot Male Age: 52 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 30 years 2500 hours (50 hours) 1000 flights (50 flights)	Location Ansermanuevo, Roldanillo, Colombia Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Strong, Very Strong Turbulence, Thundery	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Zeno 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot suffered a large frontal collapse during a competition task, when flying fully accelerated (full bar). The paraglider entered a spiral dive and the pilot deployed their first emergency parachute. They deployed a second emergency parachute to stabilise their penduluming descent caused by the paraglider which was partially inflated.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 29.01.2024	Pilot Male Age: 55 Rating: P Flying Experience: 7 years 725 hours (62 hours) 762 flights (47 flights)	Location Aguapanela, Roldanillo, Colombia Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions:, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Chili 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was flying on full speed bar and experienced a large collapse leading to a cravatte and twisted risers. They were unable to recover to normal flight and deployed their emergency parachute.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 21 June 2025

Displaying page 17 out of 329

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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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