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 paraglider 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 2515 entries for paraglider wings

Displaying page 13 out of 252

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 02.05.2024	Pilot Male Age: 67 Rating: P Flying Experience: 15 years 445 hours (23 hours) 861 flights (33 flights)	Location Sandsend, North Yorkshire, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence, Flight In Clouds, Fog	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Hook 3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Having rounded a headland, the pilot experienced significant lee turbulence and sinking air which forced a beach landing. The pilot touched down in the sea but managed to land the paraglider on the beach away from the water.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 01.05.2024	Pilot Male Age: 40 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 3 years	Location Corndon, Shropshire, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Kode P Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot made excessively deep control inputs on their take-off run. The paraglider stalled and then surged, and the pilot fell face first onto the slope.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Internal Injuries
Date 28.04.2024	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 5 years 30 hours (2 hours) 280 flights (10 flights)	Location N/a, Woldingham, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: UP Makalu 4	Summary During the repack of the Emergency Parachute, the stitching on one side of the deployment handle was found to have frayed, requiring a repair. Harness: Skywalk Breeze.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 27.04.2024	Pilot Male Age: 59 Rating: P Flying Experience: 27 years 500 hours (11 hours) 400 flights (11 flights)	Location St Cyrus, Aberdeenshire, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Rush 6 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot experienced an asymmetric deflation in the final stage of landing, and landed heavily on their back. The pilot cited wind strength and possible turbulence as contributory factors.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 27.04.2024	Pilot Male Age: 61 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 3 years 50 hours (23 hours) 75 flights	Location Tappeti, Montegrappa, Italy Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: BGD Epic 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot had the control handles around their wrists, but was not gripping the control handles in their hands. The pilot lost control of the paraglider during their forward launch.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 26.04.2024	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: P Flying Experience: 35 years 350 hours (25 hours) 500 flights (34 flights)	Location Hill Farm, Dereham, Norfolk, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent, Rain, Snow	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot launched in drizzly conditions and during the flight the drizzle increased. They applied full speed bar which they released at approx. 75ft agl. Their descent was almost vertical and they landed very hard. The pilot cited the wet wing as a factor; being at, or close to parachute stall in unaccelerated flight.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 26.04.2024	Pilot Male Age: 52 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 22 years 160 hours (23 hours) 142 flights (17 flights)	Location Lewaigue, Ramsey, Isle Of Man Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Air Design Vivo Launch Type: Foot	Summary On top landing approach in moderately turbulent conditions, the pilot experienced an asymmetric collapse at 4 to 5m agl. They impacted the ground, sustaining injury.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 24.04.2024	Pilot Male Age: 71 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 1600 hours (10 hours) 3000 flights (15 flights)	Location Jeffrey Hill, Longridge, Lancashire, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Swift 6 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Shortly after launch the pilot attempted to get their legs into the pod and noticed that the normally easy procedure was difficult to accomplish. An internal tensioning line had snagged, effectively shortening the pod and causing their legs to become stuck in the pod. They noted that the correct action would have been to land safely as soon as they were aware of the problem, without persevering to get their legs fully into the pod.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 23.04.2024	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: P Flying Experience: 10 years 500 hours (30 hours) 1000 flights (30 flights)	Location None, None, UK	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Chili 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot reported that their paraglider's aluminium speed system connectors ("Brummel hooks") had corroded significantly and cited coastal flying (sea air) as a factor. This was the environment in which the pilot had carried out the majority of their flying.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 23.04.2024	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: P Flying Experience: 5 years 138 hours (20 hours) 286 flights (22 flights)	Location Lords Seat, Peak District, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Hook 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The paraglider was laid out perpendicular to the wind in preparation for launch, and was caught by a gust, hoisting the pilot into the air. The paraglider was blown back into rotor and the pilot landed on their back.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 17 July 2025

Displaying page 13 out of 252

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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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