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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.

Hang Glider (Courtesy Dennis Thorpe)

Incident reports are available in summary form for the following wing types:

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).

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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 13 out of 43

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
28.01.2015

Pilot
Male

Age:
47

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
11 years

1 hour
(1 hour)

2 flights

Location
Mirador,
Orzola, Lanzarote,
Spain

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Aeros
Target

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot stalled glider on landing approach.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
24.01.2015

Pilot
Female

Age:
54

Rating:
CPC HG Pilot PG

Flying Experience:
19 years

75 hours
(8 hours)

100 flights
(10 flights)

Location
St Agnes Head,
Cornwal,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
Sport 2 135

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was caught out by heavy wind gradient at 10 feet above ground. Glider dived to gain airspeed resulting in heavy landing. Pilot did not let go of upright quickly enough resulting in injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
29.12.2014

Pilot
Male

Age:
52

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
36 years

1061 hours
(23 hours)

1243 flights
(18 flights)

Location
Herne Bay,
Herne Bay,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Solar Wings
Rumour 1

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot attempted to take off in turbulent air and was unable to gain enough airspeed to become properly airborne. Glider became caught on bushes and crashed down a small cliff.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
20.12.2014

Pilot
Male

Age:
41

Rating:
P

Location
Perranporth,
Cornwall,
UK

Wind Strength:
30-35 km/h

Conditions:,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
Talon

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was too slow on approach causing the glider to drop a wing. Pilot lost control of the glider while attempting to correct the turn. Landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
28.10.2014

Pilot
Age:
49

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
27 years

1000 hours
(50 hours)

Location
Famara,
Famara,
Spain

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Aeros
Discuc c

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
While holding the front wires under tension during a pre-flight check, the pilot noticed the rear wire snap at the end of the swage coming out of the keel. The pilot suspects that where the wire comes through the keel there is not enough clearance and no protection for the single wire coming out. While the glider is parked and the wind moves the glider it has slowly cut through the wire.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
08.09.2014

Pilot
Male

Age:
53

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
12 years


Location
Montmin,
Annecy,
France

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Avian
Rio

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Hang glider pilot had mid-air collision with paraglider pilot while thermalling. Paraglider deployed parachute and landed in trees unhurt. Hang glider pilot was able to land safely.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
16.08.2014

Pilot
Male

Age:
63

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
47 years

500 hours
(6 hours)

1000 flights
(5 flights)

Location


Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Moyes
Litespeed LSD

Summary
Pilot rigged and checked glider. While waiting for conditions to improve pilot unzipped keel zip to lubricate the VG. Pilot then completed short top to bottom before realising he had not done up the zip again.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
06.08.2014

Pilot
Male

Age:
52

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
(20 hours)

(10 flights)

Location
Chabre south,
Laragne,
France

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
T2c

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot attempted to launch from a ramp in possible tail/side wind. Glider did not gain sufficient airspeed and subsequently stalled, hitting the hill to the side of the ramp.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
27.07.2014

Pilot
Male

Age:
66

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
(1 hour)

(3 flights)

Location
Bell Hill,
Blandford, Dorset,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Airborne
Sting 3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot broke both uprights on landing.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
27.07.2014

Pilot
Male

Age:
48

Location
Devil's Dyke,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Avian
Rio 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Student was too high for landing approach having failed to execute simple turns during flight. Student landed crosswind in hedge and failed to let go of the uprights.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 12 September 2025

Displaying page 13 out of 43

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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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