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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.

Looking down the line from a parascending canopy (Courtesy Pete Brunt)

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 3235 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 70 out of 324

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
25.05.2019

Pilot
Male

Age:
62

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
34 years


Location
Long Mynd,
Church Stretton,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Rigid Hang Glider

Wing:
A.I.R
Atos C

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Nose section came adrift from glider while thermalling causing the glider to handle erratically.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Passenger:
Unhurt

Date
21.05.2019

Pilot
Male

Age:
57

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
13 years

600 hours
(40 hours)

1000 flights
(30 flights)

Location
Combe Gibbet,
Hungerford,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Sigma 10

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot had wing above head prior to launch. Wind gust forced pilot off-balance causing him to impact a fence.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
20.05.2019

Pilot
Female

Age:
58

Flying Experience:
8 years

3 hours
(1 hour)

30 flights
(3 flights)

Location
Grahla Bay,
San Martinho Do Porto,
Portugal

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
U-Turn
Infinity 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Student inflated glider in the smooth sea breeze in a straight and balanced reverse position. She was instructed to turn and go, but she stumbled and tripped over sideways. Putting her hand down to brake her fall, the glider turned towards the hillside pulling her over a bush and coming to rest on her back on a rock.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Lumbar Spine

Date
19.05.2019

Pilot
Unknown
Location
Sutton Meadows,
Cambridge,
UK

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Summary
Pilot observed rust on inside of Austrialpin carabiner. Harness never been wet other than through general use; never stowed wet for example. Possible hairline crack as well? Pilot contacted manufacturer. These carabiners are used on the Tenax hang glider harnesses; in fact this specific one was the replacement one following the previous recall.

Injury
Unknown


Date
16.05.2019

Pilot
Male

Age:
59

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
8 years

70 hours
(30 hours)

120 flights
(40 flights)

Location
Whitewool,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Strong,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Epsilon 8

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot misjudged the strength of the venturi on the ridge. Pull up and control was OK but immediately lifted off and started to get blown back. Pilot landed safely initially but lost control of the wing in another strong gust and got blown back into hedges.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
15.05.2019

Pilot
Male

Age:
60

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
14 years

196 hours
(7 hours)

481 flights
(14 flights)

Location
Whernside,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Iota 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was caught out by a sudden very strong gust whilst set up to launch, but had parked brakes to sort out twist in lines at carabiners. Pilot was dragged at speed into and over drystone wall, helmet taking full impact.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Cervical Spine

Date
15.05.2019

Pilot
Male

Age:
49

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
7 years

20 hours
(10 hours)

30 flights
(15 flights)

Location
Cairn o'mount,
Aberdeenshire,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Independence
Geronimo

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot initiated 360 degree turns to lose height on landing. On second turn the glider suffered an asymmetric collapse at approx 30m above the ground. The pilot did not react quickly enough and the glider collapsed fully. The wing partially recovered but the pilot landed heavily from approx 10m.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Lumbar Spine

Date
13.05.2019

Pilot
Male

Age:
61

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
18 years

500 hours
(23 hours)

2100 flights
(45 flights)

Location
Mam Tor Derbyshire,
Castleton,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Mac Para
Elan

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot performed a low 360 into rotor behind hilltop, heavy landing, right hand hitting ground with force.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
12.05.2019

Pilot
Male

Age:
62

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
11 years

200 hours
(25 hours)

400 flights
(35 flights)

Location
Blorenge,
Abergavenny,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Arak

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot attempted to top land in apparent light winds. Pilot was unable to run off landing speed despite a full flare. Pilot fell over on landing.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
12.05.2019

Pilot
Male

Age:
55

Flying Experience:
5 years

3 hours
(3 hours)

32 flights
(32 flights)

Location
Heol Senni,
Sennybridge area,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Alpha 6

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Student was flying close to the hill and despite being instructed to turn away, collided with the hill and was unable to run off the speed. Student stated he was in two minds whether to attempt a top landing.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Last updated: 12 December 2024

Displaying page 70 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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