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 417 entries for flexwing hang glider wings

Displaying page 3 out of 42

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

Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
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
Date 21.09.2022	Pilot Male Age: 64 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 38 years 2000 hours (4 hours) 3000 flights (4 flights)	Location Ager Montsec, Spain Wind Strength: 35-40 km/h Conditions: Strong	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing U2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was assisted towards launch by another experienced pilot. A thermal was blowing through and so a third pilot held the left wing wire from behind. Hang check was performed. Pilot lifted the A frame and was assessing conditions when the lower front wires came away from the nose ripping out of the assistants fingers. The pilot and wing were lifted backwards, 2-3 m into the air. The assistant on the left side wire was able to hold on and so the glider slewed around and came down sideways to the wind. The pilot landed on feet. The lower front wires keyhole tang nose catch had somehow disconnected itself.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 10.09.2022	Pilot Male Age: 55 Rating: P Flying Experience: 21 years 210 hours (10 hours) 250 flights (30 flights)	Location KittyHawk Aerodrome, West Sussex, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Airbourne Sting 3 Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Tug suffered engine-out during aerotow. Tug released line to hang glider pilot who was initially unable to make a release due to lack of tension. Pilot held the line in his teeth to create tension and was then able to release the line. Further inspection showed the line caught in the open shackle due to it being aligned in the opposite direction to when being towed.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 09.09.2022	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: P Flying Experience: 41 years 669 hours (8 hours) (19 flights)	Location Llangollen, Llangollen, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions: Strong, Moderate Turbulence, Thundery	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Evo3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot took off in 30 degree crosswind in windy and thermic conditions. Pilot turned left into the wind but encountered turbulent, lifting and sinking air. Pilot was unable to turn right, despite weight shift, before impacting the slope.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Cervical Spine
Date 29.08.2022	Pilot Male Age: 57 Rating: P Flying Experience: 40 years 520 hours (6 hours) (6 flights)	Location Pinnacle Hill, Malverns, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Evo Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot attempted to take off in breezy conditions using a nose man. On launching pilot realised that nose man had press on wires resulting in the nose angle being too low. Pilot tried to run but could not get the nose up. Base bar struck the ground and pilot swung through.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 22 June 2025

Displaying page 3 out of 42

[ 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