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 6 out of 43

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

Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 30.05.2020	Pilot Male Rating: CP	Location Mam Tor, Peak District, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Rio2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was too low to turn to the landing field, being in close proximity to a line of trees between the slope he was flying and the landing field. He was seen to collide with the slope.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 13.03.2020	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 47 years	Location Dunstable, Luton, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Air Wave Calypso Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot flew into hillside having apparently misjudged the amount of available lift.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Head Injuries
Date 07.02.2020	Pilot Male Age: 61 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 40 years 730 hours (13 hours) 530 flights (10 flights)	Location Mala Lanzarote, Spain Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Puma Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot misjudged final flare on landing, allowing nose to drop after touch-down. Pilot hit rear edge of speed upright with upper arm.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 19.01.2020	Pilot Male Age: 57 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 42 years 3000 hours (100 hours) 3000 flights (50 flights)	Location Bradwell Edge, Derbyshire, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes Rx3.5pro Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot approached a paraglider pilot who was invisible to him due to low sun. At the last second the pilot dived under and to the right of the paraglider, narrowly avoiding a collision.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 15.09.2019	Pilot Male Age: 63	Location Long Mynd, Church Stretton, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions:, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes Rx Launch Type: Foot	Summary Non-member pilot misjudged approach and crashed in bracken short of the landing field.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 05.09.2019	Pilot Male Age: 64 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 48 years 1000 hours (8 hours) 2500 flights (12 flights)	Location Westbury White Horse, Westbury, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing T2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary While test flying a glider the pilot found himself in a right hand turn. The pilot could not counter the turn and circled into the hillside. Pilot suspects he may have been flying too slow due to unfamiliarity with the glider.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 26.08.2019	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 21 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: 49 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: 28 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

Last updated: 12 September 2025

Displaying page 6 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