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 2497 entries for paraglider wings

Displaying page 86 out of 250

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 07.09.2017	Pilot Male Age: 41 Rating: P Flying Experience: 13 years 260 hours (40 hours) 300 flights (30 flights)	Location France Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Bruce Goldsmith Design Cure Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot encountered sink while thermalling and while attempting to find lift, put himself in a position with no suitable landing fields. Pilot landed heavily in dry river bed.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 07.09.2017	Pilot Male Age: 50 Rating: P Flying Experience: 19 years 700 hours (60 hours) 350 flights (30 flights)	Location St André les Alpes, Digne, France Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Very Strong, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: 777Gliders King Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot misjudged weather conditions while soaring mountain spurs waiting for a thermal during a comp. Pilot started descending rapidly and crashed onto the slope. Pilot suspects either wave or leeside air.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 02.09.2017	Pilot Male Age: 51 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 10 years 16 hours (3 hours) 34 flights (4 flights)	Location Tailbridge, Cumbria, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Mescal 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot sat in harness, stood up to inflate glider in order to ground handle. On inflating the glider it surged forward and then turned left twisting the pilot and puling him to the ground. On trying to stand up the pilot noted his left foot was engaging the speed system.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Feet, Legs
Date 31.08.2017	Pilot Female Age: 47 Flying Experience: 8 years 1 hour (1 hour) 20 flights (20 flights)	Location Muggery Bottom, Newhaven, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Alpha 5 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Student was ground handling at the bottom of the slope. Student's knee gave way resulting in the student being dragged.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 26.08.2017	Pilot Male Age: 36 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 9 years 5 hours (5 hours) 27 flights (27 flights)	Location Shining Tor, Peaks, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Alpha 6 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot hit sink while ridge soaring. Pilot caught foot on uneven ground while trying to turn out from the slope.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 26.08.2017	Pilot Male Age: 46 Rating: CP	Location Ringstead Bay, Dorset, 8km east of Weymouth, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Unknown Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot was losing height ridge soaring too close to hill. Landed heavily slightly downwind on very rough ground with legs pointing forward.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Feet, Legs
Date 23.08.2017	Pilot Male Age: 48 Rating: Unqualified Flying Experience: 8 years	Location Woldingham valley, Woldingham, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Gin Gliders Bolero Launch Type: Foot	Summary Student failed to maintain symmetry during initial inflation fell left and twisted ankle.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Feet, Legs
Date 22.08.2017	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: P Flying Experience: 25 years 184 hours (45 hours) 200 flights (20 flights)	Location Devil's Dyke, Sussex, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Calm, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: UP Kantega XC2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot accidentally spun glider in having to turn tightly to avoid another pilot who had taken off and flown into his projected path.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 21.08.2017	Pilot Male Age: 62 Rating: P Flying Experience: 42 years 800 hours (72 hours) 1000 flights (51 flights)	Location Pena Negra, Piedrahita, Spain Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Very Strong, Strong Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Macpara Eden 6 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot was caught out by extreme turbulence caused by convergence. Glider entered uncontrolled spin due to collapse and tangled lines. Pilot deployed emergency parachute but final stage of descent was accelerated, possibly due to sinking air.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Lumbar Spine
Date 20.08.2017	Pilot Male Age: 50 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 8 years 15 hours (15 hours)	Location Bradwell, Bradwell, Derbyshire, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Nova Ion 4 Launch Type: Foot	Summary Pilot took off in weak conditions. While ridge soaring pilot got close to another pilot and applied brake while already flying slowly, causing the glider to spin. Pilot got his hands up but too late to prevent a collision with the hill.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured

Last updated: 21 June 2025

Displaying page 86 out of 250

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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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