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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.

Hang Glider (Courtesy Bill Bell)

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 2515 entries for paraglider wings

Displaying page 26 out of 252

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
19.03.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
60

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
10 years

150 hours
(10 hours)

50 flights
(15 flights)

Location
Parlick,
Preston,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Iota DLS

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot failed to put leg through leg loop one fastening new harness. Pilot took off and slipped down through harness to hang by arms. Pilot rotated into the hill having let go of one of the brakes due to it being twisted causing a weight shift turn.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
15.03.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
63

Flying Experience:
10 years

250 hours
(20 hours)

500 flights
(100 flights)

Location
The Warren, Capel le Ferne,
Folkestone,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Iota2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot landed in gusty conditions. Landed OK and then failed to control wing after being hit by a strong gust. Lost balance and was dragged to boundary of field. Wing impacted a large pile of rubble and sustained significant damage.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
11.03.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
29

Rating:
CP

Location
Newhaven cliffs,
Newhaven,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Buzz

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Red ribbon pilot lost control of glider while attempting to launch. Pilot was dragged into wall.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
04.03.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
70

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
7 years

48 hours
(5 hours)

135 flights
(15 flights)

Location
Gardenstown,
Gardenstown, Aberdeen,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Windtech
Duster

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot misjudged approach and landed on the edge of breaking surf. Glider quickly became filled with water and sand. Pilot disconnected and dragged glider ashore.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
26.02.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
62

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
25 years


Location
Big Fat Repack,
Aldershot,
UK

Wing Type
Paraglider

Summary
During Big Fat repack, pilot found it extremely difficult to deploy his parachute from the Gin Genie Lite 2 harness, even with multiple pulls. System was correctly packed and installed. Harness zips did not fully open.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
26.02.2023

Pilot
Rating:
CP

Location
Big Fat Repack,
Aldershot,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
N/A


Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Following deployment at a repacking event, pilot found that the handle had become torn during the deployment. The seam holding the handle to the deployment back had ruptured.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
19.02.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
37

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
13 years

500 hours
(75 hours)

500 flights
(75 flights)

Location
Devil's Dyke,
Brighton,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Phi
Maestro

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot launched then noticed that a rise had become caught in the B/C riser pull system. This caused the wing to enter a turn but pilot was able to release it with difficulty.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
14.02.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
60

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
21 years

900 hours
(2 hours)

1800 flights
(4 flights)

Location
Milk Hill White Horse,
Alton Barnes, Wiltshire,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Triple 7
Rook 3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot stalled while ridge soaring and landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
11.02.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
47

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
25 years

500 hours

Location
Fochriw,
UK

Wing Type
Paraglider

Summary
While preparing for launch, pilot was made aware that his parachute handle pins were not correctly located in their respective keepers. Harness and parachute had just returned from being serviced.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
31.01.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
68

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
14 years

300 hours
(10 hours)

200 flights
(10 flights)

Location
Piedechinche,
Colombia

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin
Explorer 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot landed on partially hidden rock having established initial chosen landing field was not suitable.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Last updated: 11 July 2025

Displaying page 26 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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