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 3283 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 303 out of 329

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 17.07.2002	Pilot Male Age: 29	Location Hay Bluff, UK Wind Strength: 16-24 km/h Conditions: Smooth/Steady	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Firebird @ Launch Type: Foot (Reverse)	Summary Student failed to follow radio instruction during a soaring flight which resulted in him flying too close to the hill. The student did not turn away from the hill as he got lower and collided with the slope.	Injury Pilot: Broken ankle
Date 17.07.2002	Pilot Unknown	Location Woldingham 2, UK Wind Strength: 8-16 km/h Conditions: Thermic	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Apco Spectra Launch Type: Foot (Forward)	Summary Student encountered lift during low hop as he did so he applied some control - on instruction to release the control the pilot did so and swung forward resulting in a heavy landing.	Injury Pilot: Sprained ankle
Date 15.07.2002	Pilot Female Rating: CP	Location Westbury (North), UK Wind Strength: 8-16 km/h Conditions: Gusts	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Airwave Harmony Launch Type: Foot (Reverse)	Summary Pilot encountered turbulence whilst flying downwind towards the ridge. Her canopy dived forward and impacted some trees.	Injury Pilot: Neck and leg stiffness
Date 14.07.2002	Pilot Male Age: 38 Rating: P	Location Elidir, UK Wind Strength: 0-8 km/h Conditions: Smooth/Steady	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Bibeta Launch Type: Foot (Forward)	Summary During attmpted tandem launch the pilot and passenger tripped and fell onto stoney ground.	Injury Pilot: Slight custs and bruising one stitch required
Date 14.07.2002	Pilot Male Age: 53 Rating: P	Location Metfield, UK Wind Strength: 8-16 km/h Conditions: Smooth/Steady	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Java 155 Launch Type: Winch Tow	Summary Whilst releasing from a tow launch the tow release pin penetrated the pilots gloveless finger - the pilot had his hand in a position in front of the release which he operated with his palm.	Injury Pilot: Deep cut to the finger,
Date 14.07.2002	Pilot Female Age: 38 Rating: CP	Location Westbury, UK Wind Strength: 8-16 km/h Conditions: Smooth/Steady	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: La Mouette Topless Launch Type: Foot (Assisted)	Summary Inexperienced pilot misjudged landing approach, narrowly avoided collision with parked cars. Bent upright and heart bolt.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 13.07.2002	Pilot Male Age: 51 Rating: P	Location Barton Airfield Wind Strength: 0-8 km/h Conditions: Smooth/Steady	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Windtech Coral Launch Type: Vehicle/Boat Tow	Summary During PG tow launch the weak link broke causing the pilot to fall backwards - as he did so the quick release mechanism hit him in the mouth breaking a tooth.	Injury Pilot: Chipped tooth- dentist filled
Date 13.07.2002	Pilot Unknown	Location Tow Scar, UK Wind Strength: 0-8 km/h Conditions: Variable	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Nova Philion Launch Type: Foot (Forward)	Summary Student stumbled whilst attempting low hop.	Injury Pilot: Stumbled and hurt right ankle- first aid applied
Date 13.07.2002	Pilot Male Age: 42 Rating: P	Location North Luffenham, UK Wind Strength: 8-16 km/h Conditions: Thermic	Wing Type Parascender Wing: Sportlite 396 Launch Type: Vehicle/Boat Tow	Summary Pilot misjudged altitude on downwind leg of landing approach, made final turn into wind too low and was unable to complete the turn.	Injury Pilot: Both pilot and passenger went to hospital for exrays but no reported injury
Date 13.07.2002	Pilot Unknown	Location North Luffenham, UK Wind Strength: 8-16 km/h Conditions: Thermic	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Sportlite 396 Launch Type: Vehicle/Boat Tow	Summary Pilot was nable to complete the final turn into wind during the landing approach due to insufficient height - landed cross wind falling onto the passenger.	Injury Pilot: Bruise.

Last updated: 14 May 2025

Displaying page 303 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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