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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.

John Coutts

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).

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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 31 out of 246

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
01.03.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
62

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
7 years

60 hours
(12 hours)

78 flights
(13 flights)

Location
Cringle Moor,
North Yorks,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Nova
Ion

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot took off with twisted risers causing the brakes to become trapped. Pilot swung back into hillside landing heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
26.02.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
44

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
6 years

162 hours
(17 hours)

(32 flights)

Location
N/A,
South Jordon,
Jordan

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Rush 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot made emergency landing having been flying over rocky terrain and ran out of landing options.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
11.02.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
61

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
26 years

400 hours
(20 hours)

2000 flights
(70 flights)

Location
Stags Fell,
Hawes,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Nova
Mentor 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was scratching too close to terrain, in light wind. Harness caught on rocks, resulting in damage to harness and end of flight.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
11.02.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
45

Rating:
Pilot Power

Flying Experience:
13 years

800 hours
(50 hours)

2000 flights
(75 flights)

Location
Milk Hill White Horse,
Marlborough Downs,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
ICARO
Buteo XC

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot applied additional inside brake while thermalling to avoid a pilot who was ridge soaring. Wing entered a spin and the pilot landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
10.02.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
51

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
6 years

38 hours
(15 hours)

145 flights
(39 flights)

Location
Devils Dyke,
East Sussex,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin
Calypso

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot unexpectedly noticed hang glider in close proximity while coming in to top land. Pilot pulled hard on right hand control causing the glider to spin. Pilot landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
07.02.2022

Pilot
Female

Age:
63

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
24 years

938 hours
(32 hours)

Location
Devil's Dyke,
Brighton,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:,
Strong Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Phi
Allegro

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Knowing the wind had increased and changed direction significantly, the pilot decided to make one flying beat having been ground handling. On becoming airborne the pilot found the air to be very turbulent so turned to make a top landing. Pilot lost control of glider and landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
03.02.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
54

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
7 years

400 hours
(160 hours)

547 flights
(70 flights)

Location
Los Tanques,
Roldanillo,
Colombia

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Chili 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot made outlining after cross country but did not notice chosen field contained grape vines on wires. Pilot flared high but caught wires on legs.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Date
28.01.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
58

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
6 years

33 hours
(9 hours)

64 flights
(11 flights)

Location
Skirrid SEWHGPC,
Abergavenny,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Geo 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot diverted to alternative landing field having established that power lines crossed his chosen field. Pilot arrived with insufficient height to turn into wind and landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
21.01.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
61

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
21 years

550 hours
(50 hours)

(100 flights)

Location
Los Tanques,
Roldanillo,
Colombia

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Strong,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Iota 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Glider dived aggressively to horizon and suffered 75% asymmetric collapse. Pilot input most likely caused spin and riser twist leading to locked in spiral. Pilot deployed emergency parachute and landed unhurt.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
20.01.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
52

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
18 years

720 hours
(40 hours)

1000 flights
(35 flights)

Location
Westbury Bratton,
Westbury,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Strong Turbulence,
Leeside

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin
Bonanza

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot suffered asymmetric collapse while on approach. Wind had increased and pilot was attempting to bottom land in turbulent conditions.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 31 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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