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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.

Icarus Cup

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 83 out of 324

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
26.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
55

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
24 years

500 hours
(10 hours)

(7 flights)

Location
Cwmafan,
Port Talbot,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Sigma 9

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot stalled glider on approach attempting to land in a small landing area. Pilot had take wraps in order to slow the glider.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Lumbar Spine

Date
24.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
28

Rating:
P

Location
Mont Avena,
Feltre,
Italy

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence,
Front Influence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Onone
Enzo 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot took off with difficulty then flew out towards an area with minor turbulence, close to the launch. Pilot then suffered a frontal collapse and was unable to recover before impacting the slope.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
23.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
66

Flying Experience:
22 years

500 hours
(30 hours)

1500 flights
(50 flights)

Location
Thurnham,
Detling,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Chili 3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot flew in front of a pair of trees on the slope in order to scratch lift as conditions momentarily lightened. Right wing tip caught uppermost branch of second tree. Too close in slightly turbulent air. Snared wingtip caused glider to spin near the ground.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
22.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Rating:
CP

Location
Rhossili,
Swansea,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Vibe

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot clipped the side of the hill while ridge soaring. This spun the glider round, locking off the controls. The glider then turned into the hill at speed.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
21.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
19

Rating:
CP

Location
Mt Caburn,
Glynde,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Unknown
Unknown

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot turned sharply and dived into the hill (hit side of slope) with speed.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
18.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
19

Rating:
Novice

Flying Experience:
8 years

9 hours
(5 hours)

25 flights
(10 flights)

Location
Sywell Aerodrome,
Northampton,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Other

Wing:
John McIntyre
Airglow

Launch Type:
Powered

Engine:
Arkwright,
175cm 61kg

Summary
During human power competition pilot overshot the landing area having miscalculated the distance required to stop the aircraft. Aircraft side wire caught a runway light causing some damage to the aircraft.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
18.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
50

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
13 years

160 hours
(50 hours)

290 flights
(20 flights)

Location
Milk Hill,
Pewsey, Wiltshire,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Spice

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot suffered asymmetric collapse and spin while trying to thermal tightly at low level. Pilot could not regain control before impacting the hill.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Head Injuries

Date
18.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
55

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
36 years

1000 hours
(40 hours)

1000 flights
(50 flights)

Location
Egerton,
Headcorn,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Other

Wing:
Cyclone Airsports
Chaser S

Launch Type:
Powered

Engine:
Rotax,
447

Summary
Pilot landed microlight safely but caught foot on throttle while correcting a turn. Relaxing the pressure caused the course to deviate again, and the resulting attempts to manage both throttle and steering caused an oscillation, which led to the aircraft turning over onto its side. Pilot was able to release seat belt and exit aircraft with no injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
16.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Location
Dunstable downs,
Dunstable,
UK

Wind Strength:
+45 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Strong Turbulence,
Front Influence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin
Sprint

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was caught out by sudden increase in wind strength due to frontal activity. Pilot was blown back over the hill and crashed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
15.07.2018

Pilot
Male

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
8 years

400 hours
(75 hours)

150 flights
(75 flights)

Location
Eype,
Bridport,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
BGD
Cure

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot collided with cliff face while ridge soaring.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 83 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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