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 415 entries for flexwing hang glider wings

Displaying page 1 out of 42

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 28.09.2024	Pilot Male Age: 69 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 48 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: 25 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: 36 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: 2 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: 31 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 Passenger: Minor Injuries
Date 12.06.2024	Pilot Male Age: 68 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 41 years 1000 hours (5 hours) (8 flights)	Location Strathyre, Scotland, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot landed in a field reported to be extremely tussocky. They swung through the A-frame as the glider came to a stop, sustaining injury.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 11.06.2024	Pilot Male Age: 49 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 31 years 690 hours (5 hours) 1869 flights (5 flights)	Location Glencoe, Scotland, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot became aware of power lines when about to enter final approach to land. They changed their landing approach direction to avoid the hazard. They sustained minor injuries landing with a tailwind.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 06.06.2024	Pilot Male Age: 72 Rating: P Flying Experience: 49 years 800 hours (3 hours) 1000 flights (4 flights)	Location Woolacombe, North Devon, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport 3	Summary The pilot impacted hard when top landing and swung through the A frame, resulting in upper limb injuries.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 01.06.2024	Pilot Male Age: 70 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 47 years 6000 hours (14 hours) 4000 flights (10 flights)	Location Strathyre, Stirling, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Strong, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX 3.5 Pro Launch Type: Foot	Summary On landing approach following a cross country flight the hang glider accelerated in the final stage of flight before touchdown, possibly due to a sudden switch in wind direction from headwind to tailwind. The pilot impacted the ground hard and was trapped underneath the glider with an arm injury, unable to move. The pilot was assisted by walkers and a retrieve driver who reported that the pilot's satellite tracker SOS button (mounted on the control frame) was inaccessible to the pilot following the crash and could not be operated.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 24.05.2024	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 37 years 200 hours	Location Red Cliffs, Isle of Wight, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Airwave Pulse 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot turned to fly parallel to the cliff immediately after take-off without achieving sufficient airspeed and the pilot touched down cross wind, sustaining minor injuries.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 2 December 2024

Displaying page 1 out of 42

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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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