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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 74 out of 246

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
29.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
52

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
7 years

8 hours
(8 hours)

40 flights
(40 flights)

Location
Ben Rinnes,
Duftown,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin Gliders
Bolero 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Low airtime pilot attempted to make a top landing but had insufficient height. This resulted in the pilot crash landing cross-slope.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Date
28.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
55

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
9 years

100 hours
(30 hours)

100 flights
(40 flights)

Location
Rhiw Wen,
South Wales,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Rush 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot had been flying by himself while waiting for a friend to arrive. Pilot was found in a dazed state with no recollection of having had an incident.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Lumbar Spine

Date
24.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
58

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
9 years


Location
Rushup Edge,
Derbyshire,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Niviuk
Hook 3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Glider went offline during reverse launch and the pilot stumbled. He was then dragged downing into rocks.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
22.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
57

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
35 years


Location
Compton Bowl,
Freshwater, IOW,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Bruce Goldsmith Design
Tala

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
After take off the pilot attempted to work a small thermal turning left too slowly. The glider had a small wing-tip collapse and the pilot over compensated causing the wing to spin then stall resulting in a free fall of about 20ft to the ridge.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Internal Injuries

Date
22.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
53

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
18 hours

Location
Babadag 1200m.,
Olu Deniz,
Turkey

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Buzz Z

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot shout launching and began his launch diagonally across the take-off into wind. A Turkish tandem pilot then shouted 'take-off' and launched from approx 30m behind the first pilot. The first pilot aborted his launch but the tandem pilot and passenger flew into his inflated glider. The momentum pulled the first pilot off the take-off and into boulders.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
22.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
60

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
28 years

600 hours
(18 hours)

500 flights
(20 flights)

Location
Freathy,
Whitsands Bay,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Cayenne 5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot stalled glider attempting to make a beach landing in fluctuating winds.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
21.04.2018

Pilot
Female

Age:
40

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
18 years

1200 hours
(100 hours)

Location
High & Over,
Alfriston,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Magnum

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Passenger twisted ankle during light wind tandem landing.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Passenger:
Minor Injuries

Feet, Legs

Date
20.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
58

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
31 years

2000 hours
(15 hours)

6000 flights
(30 flights)

Location
Combe Gibbet,
Hungerford,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gradient
Golden

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Tandem pilot made slope landing in weak sinking air. Pilot caught foot on uneven ground on landing .

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Passenger:
Unhurt

Date
19.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
40

Flying Experience:
8 years

30 flights
(30 flights)

Location
Muggery Bottom,
Newhaven,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Element

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Student was ground handling. Stepping sideways under glider and knee gave way. Pilot previously injured knee while kiteboarding (2 weeks ago) but thought it had healed.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Date
19.04.2018

Pilot
Male

Age:
50

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
9 years

35 hours
(12 hours)

130 flights
(28 flights)

Location
Stanage Edge,
Sheffield,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Mojo 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot lost control of glider during launch and was dragged off his feet into rocks and boulders.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 74 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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