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 24 out of 329

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 03.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 66 Rating: P Flying Experience: 25 years 810 hours (23 hours) 2000 flights (72 flights)	Location Combe Gibbet, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Calypso Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot launched in windy conditions, having walked down the slope to avoid the stronger wind. Within seconds of launching the pilot experienced much stronger winds resulting in them being blown back despite use of speed bar. Pilot landed but was then dragged, damaging their equipment.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 03.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 74 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 50 years (11 flights)	Location UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot made good takeoff but encountered turbulence while transferring hand to the base bar. Glider pitched up and stalled. With limited ground clearance pilot crashed into the slope.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 25.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 30 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 2 years 14 hours (14 hours) 30 flights (30 flights)	Location Carlton Bank, North York Moors, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions:, Very Strong Turbulence, Leeside	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Atlas 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot took off in increasingly strong conditions and became pinned on full speed bar. Pilot was eventually blown back over hill and suffered numerous collapses. Pilot landed uninjured on feet in empty field.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 22.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 36 Rating: P Flying Experience: 15 years 1150 hours (15 hours) 1000 flights (10 flights)	Location Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Explorer Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot was coastal dune soaring with the wind slightly cross slope. During downwind beat the pilot misjudged height and struck a mound of sand and tussock grass. The wing dived forward and the pilot was dragged 20m.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 20.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 57 Rating: P Flying Experience: 33 years 2500 hours (61 hours) 3501 flights (120 flights)	Location Bradwell Edge, Derbyshire, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Speedflyer/Miniwing Wing: Niviuk Roller 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Paraglider pilots narrowly avoided mid air collision while thermalling.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 13.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 57 Rating: P Flying Experience: 33 years 2500 hours (60 hours) 3500 flights	Location Bradwell Edge, Derbyshire, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: WillsWing T2C	Summary While putting on their harness pilot's hang glider was caught by a gust of wind and was rotated over a wall causing damage to the glider.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 13.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 53 Rating: P Flying Experience: 29 years 941 hours (29 hours)	Location Parlick, Preston Lancashire, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Phi Maestro 2	Summary At around flight 11 hours, Pilot noticed some furring on the sheath of the starboard break line below the keeper. On the reported date, during flight, the sheath broke and exposed the inner line, which also began to wear through.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 13.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 69 Rating: P Flying Experience: 30 years 300 hours (15 hours) 1000 flights (20 flights)	Location St Jean de Monts, St Jean de Monts, France Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Nova Mentor 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot forward launched in light wind conditions but immediately found their right hand trapped between the B and C risers. Pilot was unable to free hand and therefore had no right hand control. Pilot landed downwind on grassy slope.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 30.06.2023	Pilot Male Age: 68 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 40 years 350 hours (5 hours) (3 flights)	Location Devils Dyke, West Sussex, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: A.I.R VQ Launch Type: Foot	Summary While attempting a bottom landing pilot did not maintain sufficient air speed to flare fully, causing the gliders base bar to be caught by the long grass and nose in.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Head Injuries
Date 23.06.2023	Pilot Male Age: 72 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 47 years 1000 hours (10 hours) 1000 flights (15 flights)	Location The Reds, Compton bay, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Swing NYOS RS Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot made approach in strong winds and spun the glider, landing heavily.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Lumbar Spine

Last updated: 22 June 2025

Displaying page 24 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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