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 all wing types 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 3339 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 1 out of 334

[ Next ] - [ Bottom ]

Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 26.09.2025	Pilot Male Age: 66 Rating: P Flying Experience: 29 years 1000 hours (10 hours) 800 flights (5 flights)	Location Spain Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Strong, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Swing Nyos RS Launch Type: Foot	Summary No details available	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 23.09.2025	Pilot Male Age: 35 Rating: P Flying Experience: 7 years 300 hours (17 hours) 500 flights (32 flights)	Location Mam Tor NW, Hope Valley, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Iota DLS Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot had climbed to approximately 3000ft in thermic lift and encountered turbulence. Their paraglider suffered a large asymmetric collapse, the risers twisting, preventing operation of the controls. The paraglider entered a spiral dive. The pilot made a successful deployment of their emergency parachute and landed without injury.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 21.09.2025	Pilot Unknown	Location Harting Down, Petersfield, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Unknown paraglider Unknown	Summary A paraglider was observed flying in windy conditions with little forward penetration. It was seen to experience a symmetric front collapse. The pilot landed in a tree, unhurt. They were attended to by emergency services.	Injury Unknown
Date 21.09.2025	Pilot Male Age: 42 Rating: P Flying Experience: 9 years 1400 hours (30 hours) (20 flights)	Location Harting Down, West Sussex, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Sigma 11 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The paraglider suffered a frontal collapse in strong thermic lift whilst close to the ground. The wing re-inflated but due to the proximity of the ground the pilot was unable to recover from the dive and landed in a tree.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 14.09.2025	Pilot Male Age: 62 Rating: P Flying Experience: 8 years 140 hours (30 hours) 200 flights (25 flights)	Location El Bosque, Algodanales, Spain Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Skywalk Arak 2	Summary Whilst setting up to land after a cross country flight, the pilot encountered thermic lift and turned, the turn taking them into turbulent air on the lee side of a building. They experienced a series of delations whilst attempting to fly away from the turbulent air. They managed to land without further incident.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt Passenger: Unhurt
Date 24.08.2025	Pilot Male Age: 54 Rating: P Flying Experience: 26 years 1000 hours (25 hours) (28 flights)	Location Nont Sarahs, Huddersfield, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Light Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: 777 R-light 3 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot reported a large model aircraft being flown in close proximity to paragliders.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 22.08.2025	Pilot Male Age: 61 Rating: CP Flying Experience: 10 hours	Location Woolacombe, Woolacombe, UK Wind Strength: 15-20 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Alpha Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot lost control of their paraglider following a collapse and impacted the ground, sustaining injury.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured
Date 22.08.2025	Pilot Male Rating: Unknown but name Steve and other eyewitnesses hinted was very experienced	Location Westbury White Horse, Westbury, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Moderate, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Unknown paraglider Unknown Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was observed launching just before a dust devil passed through the launch area. Their paraglider suffered multiple violent collapses and extreme trajectory changes, close to the ground. The pilot landed on their feet, unharmed.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 15.08.2025	Pilot Male Rating: Unknown	Location Leckhampton, Cheltenham, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Ozone Photon Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot was observed scratching for lift and then attempted a slope landing on uneven ground, where they sustained injury. Before the flight the observer noted a broken control line, which was reported to the pilot on launch.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries
Date 15.08.2025	Pilot Male Age: 67 Rating: P Flying Experience: 26 years 1000 hours	Location Dodd Fell, Hawes, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions: Moderate	Wing Type Paraglider Wing: Advance Sigma DLS Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot lost control of their wing on take-off in thermic conditions, and was dragged into a rock outcrop where they sustained injury.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries

Last updated: 28 October 2025

Displaying page 1 out of 334

[ 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 (Foundation Syllabus)
• 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