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 2455 entries for paraglider wings

Displaying page 16 out of 246

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 14.08.2023	Pilot Female Age: 33 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 3 years 12 hours (8 hours) 40 flights (20 flights)	Location Gozd, Gozd, Slovenia Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Bolero Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot misjudged wind direction and flew into turbulent air. Pilot lost height and crashed into a tree.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 04.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 40 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 3 years 10 hours (23 hours) 23 flights (23 flights)	Location Bell Hill, Blandford, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gradient Bright 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary On a windy day the pilot walked down the slope to take off in lighter winds. On launching the pilot was lifted off with twisted risers into stronger conditions. Pilot was able to untwist but could not penetrate and was blown back onto a barb wire fence. Pilot was wearing two jackets which prevented serious injury on the barbed wire.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 03.08.2023	Pilot Unknown	Location Unknown	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Rush 4	Summary During annual inspection, damage / tears was spotted under the stiffening rods at the leading edge across numerous cells. The pilot spent lockdown in Morocco (rocky takeoffs) and it is suspected the tears were caused by abrasion of the stiffening rods against the terrain.	Injury Unknown
Date 03.08.2023	Pilot Male Age: 66 Rating: P Flying Experience: 25 years 810 hours (23 hours) 2000 flights (72 flights)	Location Combe Gibbet, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Calypso Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot launched in windy conditions, having walked down the slope to avoid the stronger wind. Within seconds of launching the pilot experienced much stronger winds resulting in them being blown back despite use of speed bar. Pilot landed but was then dragged, damaging their equipment.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 25.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 30 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 2 years 14 hours (14 hours) 30 flights (30 flights)	Location Carlton Bank, North York Moors, UK Wind Strength: 30-35 km/h Conditions:, Very Strong Turbulence, Leeside	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Atlas 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot took off in increasingly strong conditions and became pinned on full speed bar. Pilot was eventually blown back over hill and suffered numerous collapses. Pilot landed uninjured on feet in empty field.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 22.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 36 Rating: P Flying Experience: 15 years 1150 hours (15 hours) 1000 flights (10 flights)	Location Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Explorer Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot was coastal dune soaring with the wind slightly cross slope. During downwind beat the pilot misjudged height and struck a mound of sand and tussock grass. The wing dived forward and the pilot was dragged 20m.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 13.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 53 Rating: P Flying Experience: 29 years 941 hours (29 hours)	Location Parlick, Preston Lancashire, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Phi Maestro 2	Summary At around flight 11 hours, Pilot noticed some furring on the sheath of the starboard break line below the keeper. On the reported date, during flight, the sheath broke and exposed the inner line, which also began to wear through.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 13.07.2023	Pilot Male Age: 69 Rating: P Flying Experience: 30 years 300 hours (15 hours) 1000 flights (20 flights)	Location St Jean de Monts, St Jean de Monts, France Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Nova Mentor 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot forward launched in light wind conditions but immediately found their right hand trapped between the B and C risers. Pilot was unable to free hand and therefore had no right hand control. Pilot landed downwind on grassy slope.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 23.06.2023	Pilot Male Age: 72 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 47 years 1000 hours (10 hours) 1000 flights (15 flights)	Location The Reds, Compton bay, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Swing NYOS RS Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot made approach in strong winds and spun the glider, landing heavily.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Lumbar Spine
Date 22.06.2023	Pilot Female Age: 65 Rating: P Flying Experience: 24 years 980 hours (34 hours)	Location Devil's Dyke, Brighton, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Phi Allegro Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot took off in light conditions but found themselves parachutal in sinking air, landing heavily. Pilot was informed that the air had changed significantly after they had taken off.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Lumbar Spine

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 16 out of 246

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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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