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 3 out of 43

[ Top ] - [ Prev ] - [ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 13.06.2023	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: P Flying Experience: 9 years 140 hours (15 hours) 190 flights (22 flights)	Location East side of Dodd Fell, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Rio 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot misjudged wind speed on approach for top landing and got caught behind the peak of the hill. Pilot landed heavily in rotor turbulence.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 11.06.2023	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 42 years 4000 hours (80 hours) 4000 flights	Location Semerwater, Yorkshire dales, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence, Leeside	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilots landed in non-negotiated field after comp task and encountered farmer who was annoyed the pilots had driven down a private road to collect their gliders.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 09.06.2023	Pilot Male Age: 55 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 24 years 50 hours (1 hour) 30 flights (1 flight)	Location Crimdon, Hartlepool, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Rio 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot made good refresher top to bottom flight resulting in a good approach into wind. At approx 1m above the ground and feeling the glider begin to stall, pilot flared for landing. Glider rose approx 3m, stalled then dropped to the ground. Pilot was holding uprights causing broken arm.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 13.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 41 years 150 hours (1 hour) (2 flights)	Location Deenethorpe Airfield, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Evo Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Pilot left the dolly at too low a speed, hang glider drifted to the right and was slightly high behind the tug at which point the pilot released. Left wing dropped severely in close proximity to the ground, possibly due to the release action. Pilot was able to recover and land with broken upright but no injury.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 11.05.2023	Pilot Female Age: 63 Rating: AEI, SI, AP Flying Experience: 46 years 8000 hours (20 hours) (14 flights)	Location Deenethorpe, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Falcon 3 Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Pilot noted that wheeled tandem hang glider was pulling hard to the right while being pushed and on take off. Glider is being checked.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt Passenger: Unhurt
Date 11.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 65 Rating: P Flying Experience: 50 years 1160 hours (14 hours) 987 flights (12 flights)	Location UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Bautek Fizz Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Pilot did not realise crop was higher than it appeared from the air. Pilot caught base bar on landing and nosed glider in.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 25.02.2023	Pilot Male Age: 50 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 32 years 315 hours (25 hours) 426 flights (13 flights)	Location El Penon, Valle de Bravo, Mexico Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Strong, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot launched from mountain take-off and proceeded to fasten harness zip. In doing so pilot entered a gentle left turn and also slowed glider. Pilot entered a stalled left turn and collided with trees, falling to the ground below.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 05.02.2023	Pilot Male Age: 66 Rating: P Flying Experience: 49 years 2000 hours	Location Sutton Meadows, Huntingdon, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX5 Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary During an aerotow conversion course the pilot's release mechanism kept releasing the line while the tug was on a gentle right turn. On inspection it was found that the release could be made to release accidentally by applying force to the right side. The release was an unbranded copy of a Koch type, twin gate release.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 30.01.2023	Pilot Male Age: 66 Rating: P Flying Experience: 20 years 190 hours (8 hours) 240 flights (20 flights)	Location Westbury, Westbury, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Puma Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot had near miss with tandem paraglider while approaching the hill to make a landing.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 20.10.2022	Pilot Male Age: 37 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 4 years 7 hours (6 hours) 30 flights (10 flights)	Location Vault Bay, Gorran, Cornwall, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary After a successful flight pilot landed in field adjacent to normal landing field due to cattle in field. Pilot experienced severe turbulence and crash landed. Turbulence suspected to be from hedge at upwind end of field.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 13 September 2025

Displaying page 3 out of 43

[ Top ] - [ Prev ] - [ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

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.

• Go to: Safety
• Go to: Pilot Development (Foundation Syllabus)
• Go to: Pilot Rating Scheme
• Go to: BHPA Courses
• Go to: Incident Reports (Informal)
• Go to: Incident Reports (Formal)
• Go to: Safety Notices
• Go to: CANP (Civil Aircraft Notification Procedure)
• Go to: NOTAMs (Notices to Aviation)
• Go to: Instructor & Coach Newsletters
• Go to: BHPA Documents
• Go to: BHPA Forms
• Go to: BHPA Fees