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 flexwing hang glider wings 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 421 entries for flexwing hang glider wings

Displaying page 1 out of 43

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 06.08.2025	Pilot Male Age: 66 Rating: P Flying Experience: 6 years 200 hours (2 hours) 90 flights (10 flights)	Location Mendlesham, Ashfield, Suffolk, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport 3 Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary The pilot made a cross wind landing approach which was not corrected in time for an into wind landing. The hang glider impacted the ground and the pilot sustained injury.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 28.05.2025	Pilot Male Age: 38 Rating: P Flying Experience: 13 years 600 hours (20 hours) 600 flights (15 flights)	Location Tailbridge, Yorkshire Dales, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Puma Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was making a second flight on their new wing. After lift-off, the pilot pulled on speed to to fly away from the hill and brought about pilot-induced oscillations which worsened with increasingly large control inputs, ultimately resulting in a crash 30 seconds later in the bottom landing field, breaking an upright.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 11.05.2025	Pilot Male Age: 55 Rating: P Flying Experience: 8 years 101 hours (6 hours) 126 flights (7 flights)	Location Pandy, Monmouthshire, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Aeros Discus Launch Type: Foot	Summary On landing approach the pilot manoeuvred to avoid power lines and stalled the right wing, causing a sharp turn close to the ground. On landing, the pilot noticed that the VG was still on.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 27.04.2025	Pilot Male Age: 65 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 36 years 1000 hours (10 hours) 1000 flights (14 flights)	Location Mendlesham, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX Pro Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary The pilot made a Controlled Airspace infringement, citing having the wrong airspace file set on their navigation instrument, and unfamiliarity with the local flying environment.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 03.01.2025	Pilot Male Age: 62 Rating: P Flying Experience: 36 years 1443 hours (37 hours) 1493 flights (16 flights)	Location Dunstable, Dunstable, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Solar wings Rumour 1 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The hang glider pilot was soaring in conditions busy with other traffic (paragliders, sailplanes). They found themselves in proximity to a sailplane. No collision occurred.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 28.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 69 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 49 years 270 hours (5 hours) 600 flights (30 flights)	Location Mendlesham, Wetherup Street, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport 3 Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary The pilot lifted the glider in preparation for a tow launch and the control frame came apart. The launch was aborted. Upon inspection, the pilot noted that the basetube and its end bracket were not correctly fastened together and the Wheel Retro Kit was incorrectly installed.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 14.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 57 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 26 years (4 hours) (6 flights)	Location Perran Sands, Perranporth, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Airwave Sportster Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot misjudged their landing approach on a sloping top landing area. They pulled the bar in, and impacted the ground at speed, resulting in damage to the hang glider.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 25.07.2024	Pilot Male Age: 52 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 37 years 1600 hours (15 hours) 999 flights (4 flights)	Location Àger, Sopeira, Spain Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot overshot their planned landing area and found they were not able to penetrate in the stronger than expected headwind. They elected to land on the shoulder of a hill, but got too low. They were rotored into the back of the hill, resulting in a heavy landing.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 21.07.2024	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 3 years 44 hours (11 hours) 65 flights (21 flights)	Location Long Mynd, Church Stretton, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Hiway Vision 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot found they were not gaining height and was concerned they would not clear the trees at the bottom of the hill. They chose to make a landing on a part of the ridge they considered fairly flat and the aircraft came to an unexpected sudden stop.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 29.06.2024	Pilot Male Age: 69 Rating: P Flying Experience: 32 years 556 hours 76 flights (17 flights)	Location Long Mynd, Shropshire, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing U2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot misjudged the landing approach and considered they may overshoot the landing field. They landed heavily in the flare, sustaining injury and damage to the glider.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 14 October 2025

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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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