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 2542 entries for paraglider wings

Displaying page 3 out of 255

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 11.07.2025	Pilot Female Age: 35 Rating: P Flying Experience: 11 years 400 hours (30 hours)	Location Obersteinberg, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Omega ULS Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot reported that shortly after take-off the glider accelerated and then suffered an asymmetric collapse. The pilot performed a recovery but the energy of the manoeuvre in proximity to the terrain led to a spiral to the ground, where they sustained injury. The pilot noted that the acceleration may have been caused by the speed system possibly being stuck in an activated position inside their pod harness.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 09.07.2025	Pilot Male Age: 64 Rating: P Flying Experience: 7 years 540 hours (40 hours) 1980 flights (65 flights)	Location Crete Road, Folkestone, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions:, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Air Design Rise 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot inadvertently induced a spin when encountering sinking air. They impacted the ground, landing on foliage which dampened the impact.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 08.07.2025	Pilot Male Age: 66 Rating: P Flying Experience: 17 years 800 hours (40 hours)	Location Liddington, Chiseldon, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Ikuma 3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The paraglider suffered an asymmetric collapse when flying close to the ground and the pilot landed hard in a seated position.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 08.07.2025	Pilot Male Age: 45 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 23 years 25 hours (2 hours) 85 flights (7 flights)	Location Bell Hill, Blandford Forum, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: BGD Epic 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot attempted a slope landing and misjudged their approach, landing fast slightly up the slope.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Feet, Legs
Date 03.07.2025	Pilot Male Age: 65 Rating: P Flying Experience: 9 years 800 hours (90 hours) 800 flights (40 flights)	Location Beacon Hill, Malvern, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Phi Maestro 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was lifted by a gust during launch and dragged over the hill, ending up on the lee side after being swung into the slope. The pilot managed to gain control of the wing and land further down the lee side of the slope.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Pelvis
Date 30.06.2025	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 4 years 350 hours (90 hours) 300 flights (100 flights)	Location High and Over, Alfriston, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Swift 6 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot left insufficient height to turn into wind on approach to a top landing, and struck the ground whilst flying cross wind.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Feet, Legs
Date 28.06.2025	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: P Flying Experience: 30 years 2000 hours (200 hours) 1000 flights (100 flights)	Location Col de la Forclaz, Annecy, France Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Strong Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was soaring La Tournette close to the rock face and lost control of the paraglider following an asymmetric collapse in strong turbulence.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 27.06.2025	Pilot Male Age: 60 Rating: P	Location Thurnham, Maidstone, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions:, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Omega X-Alps Launch Type: Foot	Summary The paraglider suffered a collapse on approach to top land and the pilot impacted the ground heavily, sustaining injury.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Lumbar Spine
Date 25.06.2025	Pilot Male Age: 63 Rating: P Flying Experience: 8 years 573 hours (40 hours) 2000 flights (70 flights)	Location Crete Road, Folkestone, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Air Design Rise 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot's preflight check was interrupted, and they realised they were about to take off without their helmet. The pilot retrieved their helmet and then took off safely.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt Passenger: Unhurt
Date 25.06.2025	Pilot Male Age: 73 Rating: P Flying Experience: 23 years 1500 hours (25 hours) 4500 flights (75 flights)	Location Dunstable Down, Dunstable, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Niviuk Ikuma 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot misjudged groundspeed and downwind sink in thermic conditions during a slope landing attempt, resulting in a heavy landing on the harness impact pad.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 13 November 2025

Displaying page 3 out of 255

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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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