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 8 out of 43

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 08.07.2018	Pilot Male Age: 24 Rating: P Flying Experience: 10 years 25 hours (3 hours) 74 flights (13 flights)	Location Mendlesham, Suffolk, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Eagle Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary Pilot made emergency landing having aborted a tow due to the release activating prematurely as it caught on the basebar. Pilot made good landing but stubbed toe causing a fracture.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 23.06.2018	Pilot Male Age: 50 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 21 years 200 hours (6 hours) 41 flights (8 flights)	Location Westbury, Trowbridge, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Strong Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Wills Wing Sport 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot made hurried launch in order to catch thermal upcycle, but failed to check true wind direction and made uncoordinated take-off with insufficient speed. Glider turned in towards side of hill sharply. Pilot applied full control weight shift to avoid collision with hill and went on to complete normal flight.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 10.06.2018	Pilot Male Age: 49 Flying Experience: 7 years 16 hours (6 hours) 6 flights (6 flights)	Location Swanborough, Lewes, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Rio 2	Summary Student flew into the slope while attempting to soar. Student was twisting in the harness.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 28.05.2018	Pilot Male Age: 43 Rating: P Flying Experience: 32 years 487 hours (11 hours) 1622 flights (10 flights)	Location Dodd Fell (East), UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence, Leeside	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Evo2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot made approach to impromptu bottom landing field but did not anticipate steep wind gradient. Pilot landed fast causing minor damage to upright and A frame knuckle joint.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 20.05.2018	Pilot Male Age: 43 Rating: P Flying Experience: 32 years 487 hours (11 hours) 1622 flights (10 flights)	Location Mendlesham, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Evo2 Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary Pilot crashed on take-off on winch launch. Pilot called "all out" before wind was fully on anticipating it would straighten but it did not. Also, possibility of thermal turbulence sinking down from above during launch pushing right wing down.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 09.05.2018	Pilot Male Age: 38 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 11 years 4 hours (1 hour) 80 flights (6 flights)	Location Teba, Teba, Spain Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Rio Launch Type: Foot	Summary On take off pilot started running went to basebar and pulled in without sufficient height to clear takeoff area. Pilot hit a rock which pulled the glider in to the ground.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 21.04.2018	Pilot Male Age: 43 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 8 years 10 hours (5 hours) 108 flights (34 flights)	Location Rushup, Derbyshire, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Fly Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot crashed while ridge soaring, possibly due to turbulence from trees on the site.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 21.03.2018	Pilot Male Age: 49 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 28 years 1000 hours (20 hours) 1000 flights (10 flights)	Location Sutton Meadows, Cambridgeshire, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Moyes Litespeed Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary On release at 2000' at the top of the aerotow the pilot's barrel release string wrapped around itself and knotted, causing itself, and hence the pilot, to remain connected from one side of the harness to the standard metal ring on the end of the tow line. Pilot was able to force a weak link break and landed safely.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 11.03.2018	Pilot Male Age: 55 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 8 years	Location Parlick Pike (East), Preston/Lancashire, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Rio Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot landed short in field adjacent to landing field but was also slightly crosswind. Left hand side of control frame struck the ground first causing the pilot to swing through.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 11.03.2018	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 41 years 150 hours (12 hours) 100 flights (15 flights)	Location Parlick East, Lancashire, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Flexwing Hang Glider Wing: Avian Rio 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot misjudged approach and was short of official landing field. In attempting to reach an adjacent field the pilot accidentally stalled the glider due to the wind gradient.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 13 September 2025

Displaying page 8 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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