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 6 out of 42

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 26.08.2019	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 20 years 220 hours (16 hours) 352 flights (16 flights)	Location Col d'Ares, Ager, Spain Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Evo 3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary During comp, pilot left turn point low leaving no safe landing options. Pilot went for small field with intention of using drag chute to help. Pilot accidentally pulled emergency chute rather than drag chute forcing him to deal with this to avoid power lines, while attempting the landing. Drag deployed successfully but when at 1m above, the main chute deployed causing sudden stop. Glider sustained a bent upright.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 17.08.2019	Pilot Male Age: 70 Rating: P Flying Experience: 48 years 900 hours (20 hours) 1200 flights (15 flights)	Location Aberavon Dunes, Port Talbot, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Aeros Target Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot attempted to take off in breezy conditions on dunes but was immediately turned causing a heavy landing.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 27.07.2019	Pilot Male Age: 52 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 27 years 15 hours (4 hours) 251 flights (54 flights)	Location Woolacombe, Woolacombe, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Aeros Target Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot made excessive flare on landing in breezy conditions. Glider rose up then fell to the ground with pilot still holding the uprights.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 19.05.2019	Pilot Unknown	Location Sutton Meadows, Cambridge, UK	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider	Summary Pilot observed rust on inside of Austrialpin carabiner. Harness never been wet other than through general use; never stowed wet for example. Possible hairline crack as well? Pilot contacted manufacturer. These carabiners are used on the Tenax hang glider harnesses; in fact this specific one was the replacement one following the previous recall.	Injury Unknown
Date 18.04.2019	Pilot Male Age: 29 Flying Experience: 7 years 50 flights (2 flights)	Location Bo-Peep, Sussex, UK, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Aeros Target Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot flew too slow on his landing approach. The glider stalled and dropped the left wing. The pilot landed heavily.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 28.03.2019	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 41 years 1000 hours	Location Defford Croft airfield, Defford /Worcestershire, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes RX3.5 Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Pilot had low level weak link break during an aerotow and landed heavily.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Head Injuries
Date 25.03.2019	Pilot Male Age: 49 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 26 years (1 flight)	Location Llangollen, Llangollen, UK Wind Strength: 35-40 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot returning to the sport after 10 year lay off. Pilot made rushed launch but was able to get off and flew for 10-15 mins. Pilot made safe landing but was then ground looped breaking an upright.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 22.02.2019	Pilot Male Age: 22 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 6 years 2 hours (1 hour) 15 flights (3 flights)	Location Macher, Lanzarote, Spain Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Aeros Target Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot stalled the glider while ridge soaring, lost control of the glider and impacted the side of the hill. Pilot sustained minor bruising and scratches on left arm, glider was unharmed.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 04.11.2018	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: P Flying Experience: 40 years 631 hours (31 hours) 1500 flights (34 flights)	Location Beachy Head, Eastbourne, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Evo3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot avoided usual top landing area due to paraglider activity. Pilot ended up downwind of a bank on approach and was caught by low level turbulence. Pilot landed heavily.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 24.09.2018	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 39 years 2000 hours (20 hours)	Location Dungiven west, UK	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Icaro 2000 Laminar 2000 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot successfully deployed drogue, attached to left shoulder strap, for a downslope landing. Pilot found glider impossible to turn and crashed onto a road having flown under telephone lines and over a hedge.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries

Last updated: 2 December 2024

Displaying page 6 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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