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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.

Paramotor (Courtesy Steve Millson)

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).

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 49 out of 324

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
31.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
51

Rating:
P

Location
Crete Road, Folkestone,
Folkestone,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Iota

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was seen to make a sharp turn at the end of the ridge and lost control of their paraglider when they entered a spin. the pilot impacted the hillside and sustained injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
30.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
49

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
1800 hours

Location
Milk Hill White Horse,
Alton Barnes,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
777
King

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
No details available

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
30.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
35

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
7 years

80 hours
(8 hours)

200 flights
(20 flights)

Location
High & Over,
Sussex,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Niviuk
Hook 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
No details available

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
25.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
63

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
10 years

41 hours
(8 hours)

68 flights
(13 flights)

Location
Crete Road,
Folkestone,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Sigma 10

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Whilst in flight, the pilot was made aware that their emergency parachute deployment handle was hanging out of their harness. The pilot landed and re-fitted the handle which had become dislodged during a previous aborted take-off.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
21.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
37

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
7 years

55 hours
(5 hours)

Location
Bratton Camp,
Westbury, Wiltshire,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
BGD
Base

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was flying a downwind beat close to the slope in light soaring conditions. The pilot was in a seated position in the harness and their foot caught in a rut as they skimmed the ground, ending the flight and causing injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
21.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
45

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
5 years

5 hours
(5 hours)

32 flights
(32 flights)

Location
South Harting,
Hampshire,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Arriba 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot inflated the paraglider with lines knotted and tangled. The controls were applied hard as the pilot attempted to bring the wing under control, causing the control lines to break. The launch was abandoned.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
18.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
61

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
45 years

2000 hours
(15 hours)

1000 flights
(10 flights)

Location
Westbury White Horse,
Westbury,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Rigid Hang Glider

Wing:
AIR
Atos VR

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot rigged and checked their glider, and left the spoiler wires disconnected whilst the glider was tail-into-wind. These were then connected and spoiler activation was noted as the pilot manoeuvred the glider to the take-off. On launch, the glider rolled right despite full opposite control and impacted the slope sustaining damage. On inspection, the pilot noticed that slack in the unconnected spoiler wires had become tangled causing the spoilers not to function correctly (when connected). This went undetected because the zips were closed and nose cone was fitted.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
18.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
56

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
11 years

100 hours

50 flights

Location
Longridge,
Pennines,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Buzz Z4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot made a downwind landing in wind that was off the hill, and collided with a rock hidden in the heather.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Date
09.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
54

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
10 years

400 hours
(30 hours)

800 flights
(50 flights)

Location
Filey,
Filey,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Chili 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was inspecting his wing and found the accelerator system Brummell hooks (harness end, both left and right sides) were severely corroded and had fallen apart inside their after-market Brummell hook covers.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
04.03.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
62

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
8 years

230 hours
(30 hours)

(40 flights)

Location
Caburn,
Beddingham,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Geo 6

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was moving their glider after landing and tripped and fell, sustaining injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 49 out of 324

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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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