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 rigid hang glider 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 32 entries for rigid hang glider wings

Displaying page 1 out of 4

[ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 17.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 68 Rating: P Flying Experience: 47 years 530 hours (15 hours) 780 flights (8 flights)	Location Sutton Meadows, Cambridgeshire, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: La Mouette Top Secret Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Following a heavy landing the pilot noticed that the retaining strap connecting the inboard trailing edge of the wing to the keel had snapped, and the metal "D" ring that connects the strap to the locking device on the keel had disappeared.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 15.10.2023	Pilot Unknown	Location North Luffenham, Rutland, UK	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Launch Type: Winch/vehicle Tow	Summary The North Luffenham winch Tow site was active and NOTAM H7274/23 issued for tow launch activity up to 2000ft. At 14.22 helicopter G-OCFD flew directly over the tow site 50 seconds after the tow line had been active.	Injury Unknown
Date 03.09.2023	Pilot Male Age: 62 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 46 years 4500 hours (50 hours) 4500 flights (30 flights)	Location Malvern Aerotow / Teal, Worcester, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: Air Atos VR190 Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Pilot slipped on landing due to wearing trainers offering little grip.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 30.06.2023	Pilot Male Age: 68 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 40 years 350 hours (5 hours) (3 flights)	Location Devils Dyke, West Sussex, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: A.I.R VQ Launch Type: Foot	Summary While attempting a bottom landing pilot did not maintain sufficient air speed to flare fully, causing the gliders base bar to be caught by the long grass and nose in.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Head Injuries
Date 07.12.2022	Pilot Male Rating: AP Flying Experience: 45 years	Location Deenethorp, Corby, UK	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: ATOS VR Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Glider nose cone came off during flight. Pilot landed immediately as the glider became difficult to control due to being unstable in pitch and yaw.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 08.05.2022	Pilot Male Age: 57 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 43 years 1500 hours (10 hours) (8 flights)	Location Deenthorpe, Corby, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: AIR Atos VQR Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Pilot landed in nil wind with insufficient flare. A-frame touched the ground and pilot swung through hitting elbow on the upright.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 06.05.2022	Pilot Male Age: 72 Rating: P Flying Experience: 49 years 3000 hours (1 hour) (2 flights)	Location Deenethorpe Airfield, Corby, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: Air Design ATOS Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Pilot misjudged speed on approach to land resulting in being too high. Pilot pulled in too much resulting in heavy landing.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 25.03.2022	Pilot Male Age: 62 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 49 years 10000 hours (4 hours) 10000 flights (20 flights)	Location Mercury, Petersfield, UK	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: A.I.R VR	Summary While making a landing approach having been scratching below hill height, pilot cleared main power lines but did not see spur line. Pilot suspects wing glanced power line causing a heavy landing.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 15.06.2021	Pilot Male Age: 61 Rating: P Flying Experience: 40 years 1000 hours (19 hours) 1000 flights (28 flights)	Location Sutton Meadows, Peterborough, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: A-I-R VR Launch Type: Aero Tow	Summary Immediately prior to the aerotow commencing the conditions were nil wind. When "all out" was called, the left wing rose first and continued to rise out of the trolley, caught by a sudden crosswind. The right wingtip came into contact with long grass, turning the glider and trolley. The weak link broke, but the glider had left the runway and stopped nose down in crops.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Hands, Arms, Shoulder
Date 23.05.2021	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 38 years 1000 hours 1000 flights	Location Westbury, Wiltshire, UK Wind Strength: 40-45 km/h	Wing Type Rigid Hang Glider Wing: AIR Atos VRS Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot lost control of the wing on the launch area during a change in wind direction and increase in windspeed. The wing and pilot were lifted, blown backwards and dropped to the ground, which caused damage to the glider.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Pelvis

Last updated: 5 January 2025

Displaying page 1 out of 4

[ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

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.

• Go to: Safety
• Go to: Pilot Development
• Go to: Pilot Rating Scheme
• Go to: BHPA Courses
• Go to: Incident Reports (Informal)
• Go to: Incident Reports (Formal)
• Go to: Safety Notices
• Go to: CANP (Civil Aircraft Notification Procedure)
• Go to: NOTAMs (Notices to Aviation)
• Go to: Instructor & Coach Newsletters
• Go to: BHPA Documents
• Go to: BHPA Forms
• Go to: BHPA Fees