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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.

Paraglider parascending (Courtesy Pete Brunt)

Incident reports are available in summary form for the following wing types:

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).

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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 9 out of 42

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
24.05.2017

Pilot
Male

Age:
51

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
46 years

655 hours
(42 hours)

1000 flights
(34 flights)

Location
Woldingham,
Surrey,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills wing
Eagle

Launch Type:
Powered

Engine:
Wasp,
Wasp

Summary
Pilot stalled on take-off.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Passenger:
Unhurt

Date
10.04.2017

Pilot
Male

Age:
45

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
19 years

200 hours
(15 hours)

(12 flights)

Location
Westbury White Horse,
Westbury,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Moyes
RX3.5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot had not attached nose cone properly causing the glider to become unstable during high speed glide. Glider descended rapidly and impacted heavily bending both uprights.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
05.04.2017

Pilot
Male

Age:
56

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
46 years

1500 hours
(5 hours)

2000 flights
(3 flights)

Location
Fairbourne,
Barmouth Mid Wales,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Moyes
RX Pro

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot landed heavily in area of known rotor.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
19.10.2016

Pilot
Male

Age:
60

Rating:
CP

Location
Devils dyke,
Brighton,
UK

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Seedwings
Space

Summary
Pilot was struggling to attach nose wires. It transpired that the glider had been in a minor crash on landing and the replaced uprights were too long. The uprights were subsequently changed.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
15.10.2016

Pilot
Male

Age:
49

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
24 years

170 hours
(3 hours)

(5 flights)

Location
Milk Hill,
Pewsey,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
T2C

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was flying slowly to maximise lift causing the wing to stall when turning into approach base leg. Glider landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
02.10.2016

Pilot
Male

Age:
47

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
40 years

2000 hours
(25 hours)

500 flights
(20 flights)

Location
Model ridge,
Stokesley,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Airwave
Calypso

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Experienced pilot I chose to test fly the glider for a beginner. On rigging pilot noticed the compression struts were not totally tight but failed to appreciate that with the particular design if loose they could actually detach. The starboard side detached as the glider came under load and was found inside the sail. The resultant turn was unrecoverable and the glider turned and cartwheeled. Pilot chose to keep hold of the uprights rather than take any head impact. This resulted in both broken upper arms.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
15.08.2016

Pilot
Male

Age:
62

Rating:
Pilot hg

Flying Experience:
50 years

1000 hours
(20 hours)

2000 flights
(50 flights)

Location
Mendlesham,
Mendlesham,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Very Strong,
Strong Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Aeros
Discus

Launch Type:
Winch/vehicle Tow

Summary
No details available

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
04.06.2016

Pilot
Male

Age:
61

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
32 years

314 hours
(10 hours)

420 flights
(10 flights)

Location
Griefenburg,
Near Lienz,
Austria

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent,
Rain, Snow

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
U2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilots of similar weights and on same gliders, took off from same site at the same time on top to bottoms. They arrived at the landing area at the same time but due to switching winds, landed in opposite directions. Pilots avoided a collision by 6m.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
29.05.2016

Pilot
Male

Age:
52

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
30 years


Location
Monk's Down,
Shaftsbury,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
U-2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was too slow and too high on approach to landing. Glider turned on landing and flipped over damaging uprights and tip wand.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
17.05.2016

Pilot
Male

Rating:
P

Location
St Hilaire de Touvet,
Grenoble,
France

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Strong,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
Sport 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot made a ramp launch in thermic conditions with a cross wind. During the launch sequence the cross wind lifted the right wing tip causing the glider to turn left back towards the mountainside, where it impacted young trees, causing light damage to the glider.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 9 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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