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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.

Paraglider (Courtesy Stuart Belbas)

Incident reports are available in summary form for the following wing types:

Incident reports for speedflyer/miniwing 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 36 entries for speedflyer/miniwing wings

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Date Pilot Location Wing Type Summary Injury
Incident Reports

Date
20.07.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
57

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
33 years

2500 hours
(61 hours)

3501 flights
(120 flights)

Location
Bradwell Edge,
Derbyshire,
UK

Wind Strength:
30-35 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Niviuk
Roller 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Paraglider pilots narrowly avoided mid air collision while thermalling.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
05.03.2023

Pilot
Male

Age:
48

Rating:
Speed wing

Flying Experience:
4 years

200 flights
(100 flights)

Location
Coignafearn,
Highlands,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Swing
Mirage 2 rs

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Just after take off pilot carried out barrel roll. Once out of the roll, pilot carried out a further barrel roll but had misjudged the available height. Pilot crashed at speed.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
09.12.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
46

Rating:
P

Location
Tor y Foel,
Powys,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Ozone
Rapidos

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot entered a turn at low level and impacted heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
19.11.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
34

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
5 years

48 hours
(25 hours)

Location
Lords seat,
Peak district,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Ozone
Fazor 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot did not gain enough airspeed on launch causing harness airbag to catch on the ground. Glider stalled and the pilot was thrown forward down the hill.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
20.09.2022

Pilot
Male

Age:
40

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
9 years

330 hours
(30 hours)

700 flights
(60 flights)

Location
Kronplatz,
Italy,
Italy

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:,
Strong Turbulence,
Foehn

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Swing
Mirage RS 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot launched with a group, 3 wings in front had good glide, as did the 1 behind. Pilot launched into sinking air and impacted slope heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Lumbar Spine

Date
13.11.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
27

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
8 years

(80 hours)

Location
Hay Bluff,
Wales,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Niviuk
Zion

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot attempted a tight 360 to try and release a knot in brake line. Pilot underestimated wind speed and distance from hill resulting in a heavy impact with slope.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
31.05.2021

Pilot
Male

Age:
30

Rating:
CP

Location
Mam Tor,
Castleton/ Derbyshire,
UK

Wind Strength:
35-40 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Ozone
Zero 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
During a soaring flight in thermic conditions the pilot experienced an asymmetric collapse whilst flying with trimmers released (accelerated). The paraglider turned towards its collapsed side, and into the hill. The pilot impacted the hillside and sustained injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
28.11.2020

Pilot
Male

Age:
50

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
28 years

500 hours
(38 hours)

(140 flights)

Location
Pentland Hills,
Edinburgh,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Phi
Viola

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot, having misjudged his glide on landing approach, flew towards a gap in a line of trees. He caught a line on a tree, which turned his paraglider into the tree. Lack of visibility caused by flying into the low sun was a contributory factor.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
26.11.2020

Pilot
Male

Age:
36

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
11 years

600 hours

Location
Hay Bluff,
South Wales,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Swing
Mirage RS Plus

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot was performing a proximity barrel roll and lost more height in the manoeuvre than expected. They impacted the ground at speed, causing injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Date
19.07.2020

Pilot
Female

Age:
47

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
13 years

150 hours
(2 hours)

170 flights
(8 flights)

Location
Pleney,
Morzine,
France

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Speedflyer/Miniwing

Wing:
Swing
Mirage (Mk.1)

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
The pilot tripped whilst running off the landing and fell, causing injury.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Last updated: 5 January 2025

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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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