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 33 out of 336

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Date

Pilot

Location

Wing Type

Summary

Injury

Incident Reports

Date
04.06.2023

(E30054)

Pilot
Male

Age:
60

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
5 years

2 hours
(1 hour)

8 flights
(3 flights)

Location
Monksdown,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Gin
Bolero 4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
While practicing ground handling pilot was lifted off feet. Pilot flared and was lifted higher. Pilot turned upwind along the ridge without losing height. Pilot then turned downwind along the ridge and crashed at speed.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
02.06.2023

(E29990)

Pilot
Male

Age:
54

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
6 years

250 hours
(50 hours)

307 flights
(52 flights)

Location
Burnbank Fell,
Cockermouth, Cumbria,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Advance
Iota DLS

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
While thermalling close to the hillside pilot misjudged distance from the slope and did not have room to complete the 360 turn. Pilot collided with hill down wind on take off area.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
27.05.2023

(E29794)

Pilot
Male

Age:
40

Rating:
PPG

Flying Experience:
9 years

300 hours
(20 hours)

(30 flights)

Location
Somerton Drove,
Somerton,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Powered PG

Wing:
BGD
Epic Freestyle

Launch Type:
Powered

Engine:
Parajet,
Maverick

Summary
Whilst practicing stall to tailslide, pilot was too quick catching the dive on recovering from the tailside. Wing then entered parachutal stall then heli. Pilot did not recover heli and experienced riser twist that locked the brake lines. Pilot realised wing was unrecoverable and deployed emergency parachute, landing safely.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
26.05.2023

(E29622)

Pilot
Male

Age:
64

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
19 years

1000 hours
(50 hours)

1000 flights
(30 flights)

Location
Malvern Kettle Sings,
Malvern,
UK

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Strong,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Zeno

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
While flying through sink on half bar pilot entered a strong thermal. Wing suffered 70% asymmetric collapse resulting in a large cravat. Pilot could not maintain heading so deployed emergency parachute and landed safely.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Feet, Legs

Date
24.05.2023

(E30898)

Pilot
Male

Age:
59

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
9 years

75 hours
(12 hours)

228 flights
(20 flights)

Location
Babadag 1900,
Oludeniz,
Turkey

Wind Strength:
15-20 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Phi
Symphonia

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot suffered frontal collapse on launch. Suspected fell out of back of thermal. Landed on rocky ground from approx 3m.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured

Date
22.05.2023

(E29494)

Pilot
Male

Age:
60

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
5 years

20 hours
(5 hours)

40 flights
(20 flights)

Location
Clough head,
Keswick,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence,
Front Influence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Buzz6

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot launched into a short-lived thermal cycle and had to slope land. Pilot landed on uneven, rocky ground, damaging ankle.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
21.05.2023

(E29482)

Pilot
Male

Age:
24

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
5 years

20 hours
(5 hours)

60 flights
(8 flights)

Location
Putsbrough, North Devon,
North Devon,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Skywalk
Arriba

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot took off on a coastal cliff soaring flight but misjudged wind strength. Being unable to gain the required height for a top landing the pilot was forced to land in the sea as there were no beach options. Pilot landed close to rocks and was eventually rescued. Pilot was unable to recover wing from the water.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
20.05.2023

(E29618)

Pilot
Male

Age:
56

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
22 years

1200 hours
(65 hours)

400 flights
(40 flights)

Location
Near Loft Crag,,
Langdale, Cumbria,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Ozone
Zeolite GT

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
In light winds pilot reversed launched into a breeze that was stronger than expected. Pilot was lifted off while still facing the wrong way resulting in a full riser twist. Pilot elected to fly out to get height but glider entered a turn and pilot collided with the hill at speed while still facing backwards.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
16.05.2023

(E30478)

Pilot
Male

Age:
72

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
51 years

3000 hours
(50 hours)

Location
Black Hill,
Manaton, Devon,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
BGD
Cure

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot was flying small site in windy and gusty conditions with the wind off the hill. Pilot misjudged approach and had asymmetric collapse, landing heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Feet, Legs

Date
16.05.2023

(E29490)

Pilot
Male

Age:
75

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
50 years

10000 hours
(3 hours)

(4 flights)

Location
Afton,
IOW,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Strong Turbulence

Wing Type
Paraglider

Wing:
Niviuk
PEAK4

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot lost control of glider while thermalling in strong conditions. Pilot suspects over control lead to spin and eventual stall onto hill top.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 27 January 2026

Displaying page 33 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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