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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.

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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).

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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

Displaying page 18 out of 335

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
25.05.2024

Pilot
Male

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
3 years

20 hours

Location
Chabre,
Laragne,
France

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Mojo 6

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was observed struggling to maintain directional control after take-off and the paraglider shape appeared distorted as if lines were knotted. The pilot landed in trees short of the landing field and dropped to the ground, sustaining injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
24.05.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
63

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
38 years

200 hours

Location
Red Cliffs,
Isle of Wight,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Airwave
Pulse 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot turned to fly parallel to the cliff immediately after take-off without achieving sufficient airspeed and the pilot touched down cross wind, sustaining minor injuries.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
23.05.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
51

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
27 years

1000 hours
(40 hours)

Location
Vero,
Ajaccio,
France

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Strong,
Strong Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin
Bonanza 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot identified a landing field following a cross country flight and noticed on final approach the field was in the lee of a small cutting. As they approached, a thermal came through and the pilot inadvertently stalled the wing, sustaining injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Lumbar Spine

Date
20.05.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
42

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
2 years

2 hours
(2 hours)

25 flights
(8 flights)

Location
Blaenavon,
Torfaen, Wales,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Buzz Z7

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Preparing for a second flight after top landing, the pilot became aware that their emergency parachute had fallen out of their Gin Gingo 4 paragliding harness, despite having checked the emergency parachute handle was correctly installed as part of their pre-flight check. The pilot terminated the launch.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
19.05.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
41

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
21 years

100 hours
(4 hours)

400 flights
(20 flights)

Location
Farway,
Devon,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Mescal 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Immediately after take-off the pilot became aware that their right control line was caught at the pulley, preventing control input on that side. They top landed and landed hard on their right leg sustaining injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
18.05.2024

Pilot
Age:
47

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
7 years

240 hours
(50 hours)

200 flights
(45 flights)

Location
Babadag,
Olu Deniz,
Turkey

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
BGD
Base 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot induced a frontal collapse with full acceleration during an SIV course. Upon re-inflation, nine suspension lines broke. The pilot was able to control the wing and landed safety.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
18.05.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
57

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
15 years

900 hours
(20 hours)

(12 flights)

Location
Weybourne Coastal,
Weybourne, Norfolk,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Chili 3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot collided with the ground, impacting the cliff top with the bottom of their harness whilst on a downwind beat. The paraglider dived and the pilot collided with the cliff face before coming to rest on the beach.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
15.05.2024

Pilot
Unknown
Location
N/A,
UK

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Nova
Mentor 7 Light

Summary
During a routine service, the service centre noted a metal connector (unbranded "Maillon" type) between riser and lines had two or three turns of thread visible below the closing nut (when closed). Upon further examination it was evident that the nut could be wound fully up the top thread with little resistance, fully exposing the bottom thread and therefore opening the connector.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
11.05.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
53

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
120 hours

Location
Blorenge,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Independence
Geronimo 3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was attempting a slope landing and collided with a wall after they experienced sinking air.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
11.05.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
40

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
Under a year

10 hours
(2 hours)

3 flights
(2 flights)

Location
Kettle Sings,
Malvern,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Air Design
Vivo

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot lost control of their paraglider following an asymmetric collapse and impacted the ground, sustaining injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Lumbar Spine

Last updated: 10 December 2025

Displaying page 18 out of 335

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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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