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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

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

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).

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 2493 entries for paraglider wings

Displaying page 15 out of 250

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
06.01.2024

Pilot
Male

Age:
51

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
4 years

55 hours
(13 hours)

152 flights
(31 flights)

Location
Whitesheet,
Shaftesbury,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
U-Turn
Blacklight 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot undertook a top to bottom flight, flying into a landing field for the first time. They had not visited the landing area to assess it. The pilot misjudged their approach and slowed their paraglider down significantly in an attempt to avoid a house on their line of approach. The pilot's outstretched left arm contacted a raised area of ground, causing injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
26.12.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
51

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
36 years

(16 hours)

(30 flights)

Location
Dunstable Downs,
Dunstable,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Iota

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot felt the paraglider lose pressure during a launch on a steep section of slope in light wind. They attempted to abort the launch but the wing overshot them, the pilot falling forwards and rolling over before coming to rest. The flight did not proceed.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
02.12.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
24

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
3 years

17 hours
(11 hours)

30 flights
(15 flights)

Location
Rushup,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Geo 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot misjudged approach to bottom landing field having encountered sink. Pilot was forced to make a tight turn to avoid a tree then struck the top of a wall.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Pelvis

Date
20.11.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
63

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
32 years

800 hours
(36 hours)

1600 flights
(79 flights)

Location
Devil's Dyke,
South Downs,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Mint

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
After landing, on packing up glider, Pilot discovered a brake line had gone through a crack in the riser maillon plastic insert and was wedged in and quite difficult to pull out again. Pilot does not know how the crack in the plastic insert occurred.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
14.11.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
68

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
20 years

150 hours

Location
Legzira,
Mirleft,
Morocco

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin
Atlas

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot did not continue running during forward launch and crashed.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Pelvis

Date
11.11.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
56

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
25 years

800 hours

Location
Carlton Bank,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Alpina 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was scratching in light conditions and misjudged height and sink rate resulting in contact with the hill and heavy feet first impact.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Date
22.10.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
59

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
30 years

2379 hours
(125 hours)

2000 flights
(68 flights)

Location
Eype,
West Bay,
UK

Wind Strength:
30-35 km/h

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
777
Queen 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot accidentally touched harness on ground while storing in strong wind conditions. Wing fell back and pilot was dragged into bench and bushed.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Date
19.10.2023

Pilot
Female

Age:
46

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
5 years

47 hours
(5 hours)

370 flights
(43 flights)

Location
Lift Sopot,
Sopot,
Bulgaria

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
UP
Rimo

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot hit sink on final approach and was unable to get their legs down before catching a hump on the ground with the underside of their harness.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Thoracic Spine

Date
17.10.2023

Pilot
Male

Rating:
P

Location
Hill of Noth,
Rhynie,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot took off with one leg loop undone. Pilot immediately felt the issue but was able to stay in the harness. Pilot flew away from the hill into open air and was able get the buckle made up. The harness has one fixed leg loop and the other is a pass through buckle.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
15.10.2023

Pilot
Male

Location
Combe Gibbet,
Ink Pen,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot landed safely, but released the brakes too early. A gust of wind inflated the paraglider which then dragged the pilot over a fence behind the top landing area.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Last updated: 16 May 2025

Displaying page 15 out of 250

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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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