Incident Reports | Formal Investigations | Report incident | Safety

Incident Reports (Informal)

All incident reports submitted via the old pan Europe incident reporting system, that had been approved for publication prior to 21 January 2026, can be found below.

Incident reports submitted via the new FIDA pan Europe incident reporting system after 21 January 2026 that have been approved for publication can be found on our FIDA Incident reports page

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

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).

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 3356 entries for all wing types

Displaying page 107 out of 336

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Date

Pilot

Location

Wing Type

Summary

Injury

Incident Reports

Date
17.02.2018

(E5567)

Pilot
Male

Age:
54

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
24 years

400 hours
(3 hours)

270 flights
(4 flights)

Location
St. Bees,
St. Bees,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin Gliders
Gto 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot misjudged wind direction and flew into sinking air. Pilot was forced to make an emergency landing between the cliff and the sea, landing on large boulders.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
17.02.2018

(E5566)

Pilot
Male

Age:
64

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
16 years


Location
Woolacombe,
Woolacombe,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Airwave


Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was seen to be ridge soaring with parachute handle detached. Landed without incident

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
17.02.2018

(E5565)

Pilot
Male

Age:
80

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
51 years


Location
Woolacombe,
Woolacombe,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Sigma

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot omitted to clip into harness before clipping on flight deck. Inflated wing and fellow pilot noticed odd attitude of harness. Wing safely deflated and brought under control.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
12.02.2018

(E5562)

Pilot
Male

Age:
46

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
22 years

115 hours
(6 hours)

300 flights
(9 flights)

Location
Haresfield,
Gloucester,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
UP
Summit XC

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Wind increased while pilot was flying to point where he could not penetrate with full bar. Pilot applied big ears but made no forward progress. Pilot steered backwards and landed in trees. Pilot waited for assistance and was then able to climb down.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
04.02.2018

(E5783)

Pilot
Male

Age:
84

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
32 years

1500 hours
(50 hours)

2500 flights
(50 flights)

Location
Crimdon dene,
Hartlepool,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence,
Rain, Snow

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Delta 3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot took of in windy conditions and was blown back into a caravan park.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
04.02.2018

(E5549)

Pilot
Male

Age:
56

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
14 years

160 hours
(4 hours)

300 flights
(10 flights)

Location
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Nova
Ion3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
After preparing for flight and having completed pre-flight checks, pilot decided to change launch point. Pilot unclipped leg straps to make walking easier. Pilot did not carry out full pre-flight check and took off with leg straps undone. Pilot was unable to get into seat but was able to land due to vertical safety strap.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
04.02.2018

(E5548)

Pilot
Male

Age:
58

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
19 years

450 hours
(55 hours)

1135 flights
(60 flights)

Location
Carrock Fell,
Lake District

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Epsilon 8

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was using "Wind Riders" hand warmers while flying. Pilot applied 'big ears' to give separation from a higher pilot before landing. On releasing the big ears and attempting to make a landing approach, the pilot found that his brake pulleys had become jammed in the fabric of the Wind Riders. Pilot landed hard in a sharp turn but was uninjured.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
01.02.2018

(E36042)

Pilot
Female

Age:
42

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
9 years


Location
Arco de Calheta,
Madeira,
Portugal

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Connecting element
Maillon - harness to EP

Summary
The Maillon Rapide connecting the Emergency Parachute and harness bridle had been closed "finger tight" by the pilot (not fastened to the tightening torque specified by the manufacturer). When inspected later during a repack, the pilot reported that the Maillon was fully open.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
30.01.2018

(E5539)

Pilot
Male

Age:
48

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
22 years

336 hours
(54 hours)

320 flights
(69 flights)

Location
Haresfield,
Gloucester,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Chili 3

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot caught wingtip in trees while ridge soaring but was able to turn away and land safely. Glider suffered broken lines at the top of the 'B' cascade at the wing tip.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
26.01.2018

(E5541)

Pilot
Female

Age:
50

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
500 hours

Location
Uffington White Horse,
Nr Swindon,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Nova
Mentor 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot had been dragged on previous landing and failed to notice emergency parachute handle had become detached. Pilot was attempting to launch again but was stopped by a pilot who had noticed the parachute handle was not attached.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Last updated: 27 January 2026

Displaying page 107 out of 336

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A number of incident analysis reports are also available in the safety section of main portal, bhpa.co.uk. These are compiled from the individual incident reports submitted during the course of each year.

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