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 4 out of 43

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
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
Date 04.08.2022	Pilot Male Age: 67 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 49 years 260 hours (10 hours)	Location Mendlesham, Crowfield/Suffolk, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport 2 Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary Pilot had near miss with military helicopter. Helicopter passed within approx 100m.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 14.07.2022	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 42 years 5000 hours (40 hours) 4000 flights (12 flights)	Location Monte Cucco north, Perugia, Italy Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes Rx3.5 pro Launch Type: Foot	Summary Nose cone became loose from top surface of glider causing the glider to fly erratically. Glider became gradually worse and pilot decided to land. On landing the pilot found the glider was impossible to slow and nosed in heavily.	Injury Unknown
Date 12.06.2022	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 7 years 5 hours (1 hour) 20 flights (15 flights)	Location Rhossili, Swansea, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Falcon 3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot crash landed having got too far beyond the ridge. Witness suspects pilot got into leeside turbulence.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 12.05.2022	Pilot Male Age: 47 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 32 years	Location Lyveden Airfield, Corby, UK	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider	Summary During release check, pilot's bridle snagged on the test release rig. Bridle had undergone 'quick' repair resulting in an end not properly finished. This was then repaired more appropriately. Release would have failed if used as it was.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 26.03.2022	Pilot Male Age: 61 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 36 years 600 hours (6 hours)	Location Balado Aerotow, UK	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Three ring circus failed to release after aerotow. Partially released then held. Pilot managed full release by knocking with his hand. Pilot suspects loops had become stretched over time.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 06.03.2022	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 8 years 80 hours (7 hours) 110 flights (13 flights)	Location Parlick East Face, Chipping, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Rio 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Hang glider had near miss with paraglider pilot while soaring. Hang glider pilot was able to avoid the collision but was unable to discuss with the paraglider pilot, who had left the site. Paraglider pilot was not a club member.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 12 September 2025

Displaying page 4 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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