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 18 out of 246

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 22.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 4 years 20 hours (5 hours) 40 flights (20 flights)	Location Clough head, Keswick, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence, Front Influence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Buzz6 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot launched into a short-lived thermal cycle and had to slope land. Pilot landed on uneven, rocky ground, damaging ankle.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Feet, Legs
Date 21.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 24 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 4 years 20 hours (5 hours) 60 flights (8 flights)	Location Putsbrough, North Devon, North Devon, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Arriba Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot took off on a coastal cliff soaring flight but misjudged wind strength. Being unable to gain the required height for a top landing the pilot was forced to land in the sea as there were no beach options. Pilot landed close to rocks and was eventually rescued. Pilot was unable to recover wing from the water.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 20.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 56 Rating: P Flying Experience: 21 years 1200 hours (65 hours) 400 flights (40 flights)	Location Near Loft Crag,, Langdale, Cumbria, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions:, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Zeolite GT Launch Type: Foot	Summary In light winds pilot reversed launched into a breeze that was stronger than expected. Pilot was lifted off while still facing the wrong way resulting in a full riser twist. Pilot elected to fly out to get height but glider entered a turn and pilot collided with the hill at speed while still facing backwards.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 16.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 75 Rating: P Flying Experience: 49 years 10000 hours (3 hours) (4 flights)	Location Afton, IOW, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Strong Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk PEAK4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot lost control of glider while thermalling in strong conditions. Pilot suspects over control lead to spin and eventual stall onto hill top.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 16.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 72 Rating: P Flying Experience: 50 years 3000 hours (50 hours)	Location Black Hill, Manaton, Devon, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: BGD Cure Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot was flying small site in windy and gusty conditions with the wind off the hill. Pilot misjudged approach and had asymmetric collapse, landing heavily.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Feet, Legs
Date 13.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 44 Rating: P Flying Experience: 9 years 300 hours (25 hours) 500 flights (25 flights)	Location Cairngorms, Nr Tomintoul, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Strong Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Alpina 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot didn't notice increase in wind strength and crossed high terrain into complex valley system. Pilot encountered severe turbulence and deployed emergency parachute. Pilot was dragged 250m before getting parachute under control.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Pelvis
Date 07.05.2023	Pilot Male	Location Bradwell, Bradwell, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Geo 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Visiting pilot took off into the path of another pilot. Both were able to take avoiding action. Pilot reflected that they had left too much time between checking airspace and launching.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 04.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 45 Flying Experience: 26 years 250 hours (5 hours) (16 flights)	Location Montmin, Annecy, France Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Tripple Seven Rook 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Just prior to launch on SIV flight instructor noticed pilots leg stop buckle had not fully engaged. Pilot did not realise it was possible only to engage one side of the buckle. Pre flight check buckle wiggle did not spot error.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 01.05.2023	Pilot Male Age: 40 Rating: P Flying Experience: 17 years 650 hours (20 hours) 1000 flights (50 flights)	Location Harting Down, Near South Harting, Sussex, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Takoo 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary A gust came through while tandem pilot was setting up for launch. Pilot grabbed brake line which burnt through their glove causing a burn.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder Passenger: Unhurt
Date 25.04.2023	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: P Flying Experience: 11 years 62 hours 199 flights	Location Firle, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions:, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Atlas Launch Type: Foot	Summary While on approach to top land the pilot encountered a strong gust causing the wing to drop behind the pilot. Pilot instinctively applied both brakes causing the wing to stall. Pilot landed heavily.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Head Injuries

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 18 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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