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 3239 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 18 out of 324

[ Top ] - [ Prev ] - [ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 02.09.2023	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: P Flying Experience: 27 years 1100 hours (12 hours) (8 flights)	Location Sopot, Sopot, Bulgaria Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Strong Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Explorer 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot took off with line caught on steering toggle. Pilot eventually noticed as wing tip kept collapsing and was able to land safely.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 31.08.2023	Pilot Unknown	Location N/A, Wingtrim Workshop, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: U-Turn Blackout +	Summary Inspection centre noticed extensive abrasion damage on glider in for a service. Glider had been flown extensively at Oludeniz in Turkey. Damage suspected to be from Babadag launch sites.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 28.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: P	Location Herne Bay, Herne Bay, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Artik Air Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot impacted cliff in light conditions and crashed into the beach.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Thoracic Spine
Date 28.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 68 Rating: P Flying Experience: 25 years 500 hours (40 hours) 500 flights (20 flights)	Location Selsley, Stroud, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: BGD Cure	Summary Pilot noticed an odd silhouette in one cell of the wing when looking up. Pilot inspected the wing on landing and found that in one of the fabric "ribs", 4 vertical struts had torn completely through. The rib in question was not one with hang points. It was about 9 cells in from the tip.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 26.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: P Flying Experience: 40 years 1000 flights (4 flights)	Location South Cerney, Swindon, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Green Dragons Focus Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary Pilot landed awkwardly on inflated target mat during accuracy competition damaging ankle.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 25.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 52 Flying Experience: 8 years 500 hours (50 hours) 1000 flights (20 flights)	Location UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Flare Moustache Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot tripped while ground handling and dislocated shoulder.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 24.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 12 years 650 hours (38 hours) 400 flights (32 flights)	Location Plan Praz, Chamonix, France Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Strong Turbulence, Leeside	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Alpina 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot caught out in very strong Lee side conditions.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 23.08.2023	Pilot Female Age: 38 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 3 years 7 hours (5 hours) 60 flights (41 flights)	Location Newhaven Cliffs, Newhaven, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Sky Paragliders Aya 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot lost height while coastal soaring at a cliff site. Pilot was forced to land in the sea but was able to get themselves to a small area of beach, from which they were rescued.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 20.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 13 years 120 hours (6 hours) (8 flights)	Location Eype, Bridport, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: BGD Punk Launch Type: Foot	Summary While coastal soaring pilot strayed behind cliffs into an area of rotor turbulence. Pilot attempted to get forward but suffered an asymmetric collapse at low level and landed heavily.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Lumbar Spine
Date 14.08.2023	Pilot Female Age: 33 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 3 years 12 hours (8 hours) 40 flights (20 flights)	Location Gozd, Gozd, Slovenia Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Bolero Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot misjudged wind direction and flew into turbulent air. Pilot lost height and crashed into a tree.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 18 out of 324

[ Top ] - [ Prev ] - [ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

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.

• Go to: Safety
• Go to: Pilot Development
• Go to: Pilot Rating Scheme
• Go to: BHPA Courses
• Go to: Incident Reports (Informal)
• Go to: Incident Reports (Formal)
• Go to: Safety Notices
• Go to: CANP (Civil Aircraft Notification Procedure)
• Go to: NOTAMs (Notices to Aviation)
• Go to: Instructor & Coach Newsletters
• Go to: BHPA Documents
• Go to: BHPA Forms
• Go to: BHPA Fees