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 3234 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 50 out of 324

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 29.12.2020	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: P Flying Experience: 12 years 200 hours	Location Bell Hill, Dorset, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions: Calm, Strong Turbulence, Rain, Snow	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Nova Mentor 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was airborne in deteriorating conditions and lost control of the paraglider after touching down at the top of the hill, colliding with a fence. The paraglider re-inflated, lifting the pilot off the ground, and resulting in a hard landing.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 29.12.2020	Pilot Male Age: 29 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 6 years 180 hours	Location Whitby, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Tequila 4	Summary The paraglider pilot activated his accelerator system in flight by pushing the speedbar in the normal manner. The harness end Brummel hooks both snapped in half at the attachment point for the speedbar line. The pilot was able to land without further incident.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 08.12.2020	Pilot Male Age: 51 Rating: P Flying Experience: 10 years 322 hours (59 hours) 549 flights (89 flights)	Location Portland West, Portland, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Delta 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot lost control of the paraglider on launch in gusty conditions and was injured whilst trying to regain control of the wing.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 01.12.2020	Pilot Male Age: 55 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 5 years 8 hours (8 hours) 15 flights (16 flights)	Location Afton, Isle of Wight, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions:, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Nova Ion 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The low airtime Club Pilot was attempting to land. He lost control of the paraglider upon touchdown in the moderate breeze and was pulled off his feet, colliding with a fence.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 28.11.2020	Pilot Male Rating: Unqualified	Location Bulgham, Isle of Man, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Team 5 Red Launch Type: Foot	Summary The paraglider entered a stall following release of big ears, and the pilot impacted the ground. The paraglider make and model is the subject of a DHV safety notice.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 28.11.2020	Pilot Male Age: 50 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 27 years 500 hours (38 hours) (140 flights)	Location Pentland Hills, Edinburgh, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Speedflyer/Miniwing Wing: Phi Viola Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot, having misjudged his glide on landing approach, flew towards a gap in a line of trees. He caught a line on a tree, which turned his paraglider into the tree. Lack of visibility caused by flying into the low sun was a contributory factor.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 27.11.2020	Pilot Male Age: 40 Rating: P	Location Whitewool, Clanfield, Hampshire, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Takoo 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was using Gin spreaders on their tandem paraglider. The spreaders are designed with extra large loops to take Quickout carabiners. During the flight one Quickout moved its position within the webbing loop, causing an involuntary weightshift effect. The pilot landed without further incident.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt Passenger: Unhurt
Date 26.11.2020	Pilot Male Age: 36 Rating: P Flying Experience: 10 years 600 hours	Location Hay Bluff, South Wales, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Speedflyer/Miniwing Wing: Swing Mirage RS Plus Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was performing a proximity barrel roll and lost more height in the manoeuvre than expected. They impacted the ground at speed, causing injury.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 22.11.2020	Pilot Male Age: 32 Rating: P Flying Experience: 7 years 375 hours (25 hours)	Location Pen Dinas, Aberystwyth, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions:, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: U-Turn Redout Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot initiated an aerial manoeuvre and their helmet came away from their head and dropped to the ground. The helmet ("Grimnir" made by Sweet Protection) was inspected and found to have an incorrectly assembled magnetic fastener that could be released by shaking it.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 20.11.2020	Pilot Male Age: 42 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 13 years 150 hours (45 hours) 300 flights (55 flights)	Location Creteway, Folkestone, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Dudek Optic 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The paraglider pilot made a misjudged turn towards the hill and made a large control input on the opposite side in order to correct it. The paraglider entered a spin at low level and the pilot crashed into a bush.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 2 December 2024

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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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