Incident Reports | Formal Investigations | Report incident | Safety

Incident Reports (Informal)

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

Incident reports for flexwing 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).

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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 422 entries for flexwing hang glider wings

Displaying page 9 out of 43

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Date

Pilot

Location

Wing Type

Summary

Injury

Incident Reports

Date
11.03.2018

(E5903)

Pilot
Male

Age:
54

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
42 years

150 hours
(12 hours)

100 flights
(15 flights)

Location
Parlick East, Lancashire,
UK

Wind Strength:
20-25 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Avian
Rio 2

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot misjudged approach and was short of official landing field. In attempting to reach an adjacent field the pilot accidentally stalled the glider due to the wind gradient.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
03.12.2017

(E5440)

Pilot
Male

Age:
20

Rating:
CP

Flying Experience:
9 years

3 hours
(3 hours)

7 flights
(7 flights)

Location
Devil's Dyke,
South Downs,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence,
Flight In Clouds, Fog

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Airwave
Caypso

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Hang glider pilot had mid-air collision with paraglider pilot while ridge soaring in busy conditions.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
08.10.2017

(E5293)

Pilot
Male

Age:
55

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
43 years

915 hours
(5 hours)

1254 flights
(7 flights)

Location
Croft farm,
Pershore,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Moyes
LS3

Launch Type:
Aero Tow

Summary
Pilot got out of shape on the tow and released from the tow line at about 100 ft agl. Attempted to return to the airstrip but had insufficient height to complete the turn and impacted the ground.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
03.10.2017

(E5298)

Pilot
Male

Age:
59

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
45 years

3000 hours
(75 hours)

(70 flights)

Location
St Agnes,
UK

Wind Strength:
35-40 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Moderate Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Airbourne
Fun

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
On landing glider entered dead air and despite having excess airspeed in preparation for expected wind shear resulted in wheeled landing. passenger now behind pilot in normal standup landing position knocked pilot on back of helmet with his own helmet on landing resulting in pilot knocking nose on basebar.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries,

Head Injuries

Passenger:
Unhurt

Date
18.09.2017

(E5221)

Pilot
Male

Age:
54

Location
Devil's Dyke,
Sussex, UK,
UK

Wind Strength:
10-15 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
Falcon

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Student turned 270 degrees on final approach instead of 180 and landed in trees.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
13.08.2017

(E5153)

Pilot
Male

Age:
44

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
27 years

92 hours
(2 hours)

280 flights
(5 flights)

Location
Mendlesham,
Mendlesham, Suffolk,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Moderate,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills Wing
U2

Launch Type:
Winch/vehicle Tow

Summary
Pilot was distracted and allowed nose of glider to drift upwards during winch launch. The glider went up at a high angle and the winch operator guillotined the line. The pilot pulled the bar in but caught an upright on the ground before fully in control, landing heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Minor Injuries

Date
09.07.2017

(E4892)

Pilot
Male

Rating:
EP day 3


15 flights
(15 flights)

Location
Devils Dyke back field,
Brighton,
UK

Wind Strength:
5-10 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Not Turbulent

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Airbourne
Fun

Summary
Student encountered buoyant air while on short tethered flight. Student climbed uprights instead of pulling in and landed heavily.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Date
24.05.2017

(E4726)

Pilot
Male

Age:
51

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
47 years

655 hours
(42 hours)

1000 flights
(34 flights)

Location
Woldingham,
Surrey,
UK

Wind Strength:
0-5 km/h

Conditions:
Calm,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Wills wing
Eagle

Launch Type:
Powered

Engine:
Wasp,
Wasp

Summary
Pilot stalled on take-off.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Passenger:
Unhurt

Date
10.04.2017

(E4632)

Pilot
Male

Age:
45

Rating:
P

Flying Experience:
20 years

200 hours
(15 hours)

(12 flights)

Location
Westbury White Horse,
Westbury,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Conditions:,
Light Turbulence

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Moyes
RX3.5

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot had not attached nose cone properly causing the glider to become unstable during high speed glide. Glider descended rapidly and impacted heavily bending both uprights.

Injury
Pilot:
Unhurt

Date
05.04.2017

(E4673)

Pilot
Male

Age:
56

Rating:
AP

Flying Experience:
47 years

1500 hours
(5 hours)

2000 flights
(3 flights)

Location
Fairbourne,
Barmouth Mid Wales,
UK

Wind Strength:
25-30 km/h

Wing Type
Flexwing Hang Glider

Wing:
Moyes
RX Pro

Launch Type:
Foot

Summary
Pilot landed heavily in area of known rotor.

Injury
Pilot:
Seriously Injured,

Hands, Arms, Shoulder

Last updated: 27 January 2026

Displaying page 9 out of 43

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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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