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 56 out of 329

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 22.11.2020	Pilot Male Age: 32 Rating: P Flying Experience: 8 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: 14 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
Date 09.11.2020	Pilot Male Age: 71 Rating: P Flying Experience: 23 years 1850 hours (85 hours)	Location Parlick, PRESTON, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Iota 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was practising ground handling. He was unintentionally lifted off the ground and was dragged over the ground after he landed, sustaining injury.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 05.11.2020	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 2548 hours (54 hours) (250 flights)	Location Challow Hill Farm, Challow, UK	Wing Type Powered PG Wing: Dudek Orca 2 Launch Type: Powered Engine: Bulldog, Spirit 185	Summary During a hang test the button on the harness buckle was depressed against its spring. The metal spring retaining plug popped out of its housing, rendering the buckle unserviceable.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 16.10.2020	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 33 years 1600 hours (20 hours)	Location Parlick, Preston, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: SKP Slide Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was ground handling to test the conditions on the top of the hill. He was lifted into the air by a strong gust. He managed to perform a PLF to lessen the force of the impact.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 11.10.2020	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 36 years 500 hours (10 hours) 500 flights (15 flights)	Location Longridge Fell, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence, Leeside	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes Litespeed RX Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot encountered turbulence when top landing behind the crest of the hill and lost control of the hang glider at low level. The corner of the base bar hit the ground and stopped dead whilst the pilot swung forward with momentum, injuring the pilot's wrist on the upright.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 21.09.2020	Pilot Male Age: 49 Rating: P Flying Experience: 30 years 400 hours (10 hours) 500 flights (15 flights)	Location Farmer's field TO, Rutland Water, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Powered PG Wing: Paramania Revo 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was flying a cross country route. He noticed smoke from the paramotor and performed an emergency landing. Upon inspection it was revealed that the LIPO battery was on fire and had caused damage to the harness and clothing.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 20.09.2020	Pilot Male Age: 34 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 5 years 1 hour (1 hour) 1 flight (1 flight)	Location Belstone, Okehampton, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Swing Arcus RS Lite Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot performed a 360 degree turn close to the ridge and impacted the hillside, sustaining injury.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 19.09.2020	Pilot Male Age: 47 Rating: P Flying Experience: 15 years 298 hours (4 hours) 386 flights (14 flights)	Location Cairn Laith (Creag Meagaidh), Fort William, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Skin 3P Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was dragged over rocks after a failed takeoff attempt, sustaining injury.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 18.09.2020	Pilot Male Age: 31 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 13 years 70 hours (10 hours)	Location Not applicable, Abergavenny, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Iota	Summary During an emergency parachute repack, a test deployment was attempted unsuccessfully. One of the parachute container pins (plastic sheathed wire) was found to have been pulled through the metal grommet by the retaining loop, making deployment impossible.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 15 June 2025

Displaying page 56 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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