Incident Reports | Formal Investigations | BHPA | Safety

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 other 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).

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 33 entries for other wings

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Date	Pilot	Location	Wing Type	Summary	Injury
Incident Reports
Date 21.11.2025	Pilot Male Age: 43 Rating: P Flying Experience: 5 years 400 hours (60 hours) 550 flights (46 flights)	Location Porthmadog, Wales, UK Wind Strength: 10-15 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Other Wing: Flare Prop Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot entered a spiral dive followed by a SAT during which the wing catastrophically tore into two pieces along the chord. With the glider largely uncontrollable and lines briefly contacting the propeller, the pilot deployed their emergency parachute and landed without further incident.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 09.11.2025	Pilot Male Age: 55 Rating: P Flying Experience: 36 years 5500 hours (150 hours) (300 flights)	Location Lowca, Whitehaven, UK Wind Strength: 25-30 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Other Wing: Flare Moustache 2 Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot attempted a downwind tip drag shortly after take off. They were momentarily distracted by a knot in the wingtip line, misjudged their separation from the ground and struck a gulley, coming to a sharp stop.	Injury Pilot: Minor Injuries, Lumbar Spine
Date 30.07.2025	Pilot Unknown	Location None, None, UK	Wing Type Other Wing: Ozone Angel emergency parachute	Summary Large sewn patch repairs to this emergency parachute were noted by an Emergency Parachute Systems licence holder, during a repack.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 23.03.2025	Pilot Male Age: 41 Rating: P Flying Experience: 2 years 65 hours (33 hours) 108 flights (47 flights)	Location Carbis Bay dunes, Hayle, UK Wind Strength: +45 km/h Conditions: Calm, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Other Wing: Flare Moustache Launch Type: Foot	Summary The pilot misjudged their approach to a swoop over the beach, making contact with the base of their harness and unweighting the glider. The pilot lost control of the paraglider which pulled the pilot up the dunes. The pilot impacted on their head and sustained injury.	Injury Pilot: Seriously Injured, Cervical Spine
Date 14.12.2024	Pilot Male Age: 65 Rating: AP Flying Experience: 41 years	Location North Luffenham airfield, Rutland, UK	Wing Type Other Wing: Companion SQR 120	Summary During an emergency parachute repack event the deployment was tested and failed as the Companion inner container deployment bag (containing the packed EP) could not be extracted from the harness (handle strop too short). The inner container supplied with the Gin Genie Lite 3 harness was substituted, and the extraction of the EP was tested as satisfactory.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 30.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 65 Rating: P Flying Experience: 25 years 170 hours (5 hours) 400 flights (20 flights)	Location Not applicable, Not applicable, UK	Wing Type Other Wing: Woody Valley Tenax 3 / Tenax 4 harnesses	Summary During an inspection of the inside trim system on a Woody Valley Tenax 3 hang-gliding harness, it was discovered that one of the bolts that attach the posts to the backplate had become loose, allowing considerable movement of the post. A BHPA Safety Advisory (SC019) for the Woody Valley Tenax 3 (with "inside trim") and Tenax 4 harnesses has been issued. See the relevant page of the BHPA website for mare details.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 26.08.2024	Pilot Male Age: 58 Rating: PPL Flying Experience: 23 years 413 hours (5 hours) 903 flights (9 flights)	Location Old Park Farm, Port Talbot, UK Wind Strength: 20-25 km/h Conditions:, Moderate Turbulence	Wing Type Other Wing: Medway Clipper Launch Type: Powered Engine: Medway, Clipper	Summary On landing approach the aircraft encountered rotor from a line of trees and landed heavily on the port wheel. The pilot initiated a go-around and was informed by radio that the undercarriage was not usable for landing (port wheelstay had failed). On landing approach after two practice approaches the aircraft impacted the ground after contacting a hedge. The pilot exited the aircraft uninjured.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 02.06.2024	Pilot Male Age: 61 Rating: NPPL Flying Experience: 5 years 167 hours (25 hours)	Location Sutton Meadows, Cambridgeshire, UK Wind Strength: 0-5 km/h Conditions:, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Other Wing: P&M Quick Launch Type: Powered Engine: Rotax, 912UL	Summary The flexwing microlight aircraft veered off the runway during take off run.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 22.03.2024	Pilot Unknown	Location N/A: repacking, UK	Wing Type Other Wing: Sol Squad Light 57 Bi Emergency Parachute	Summary During a routine repack of the emergency parachute the lines did not cleanly separate. A test inflation was slow, the lines appearing to be tangled (which they were not). The repacker reported that a subsequent test inflation came out cleanly.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt
Date 17.11.2023	Pilot Male Age: 45 Rating: P Flying Experience: 33 years 545 hours (60 hours)	Location Darley Moor, Ashbourne, UK Wind Strength: 5-10 km/h Conditions: Calm, Not Turbulent	Wing Type Other Wing: Aeros NiNE (SSDR) Launch Type: Powered Engine: Polini, 303	Summary The pilot was undertaking a flight on this single seat flexwing microlight aircraft. Failure of the nyloc nut and bolt that secures the base bar’s rear control wires to the wing keel tube caused the wires to detach during flight. Despite the potential for aerodynamic instability, the pilot landed the aircraft successfully but the wing and propeller were badly damaged in the process. The manufacturer has issued replacement bolts and replaced the nyloc nut with a castellated nut and cotter pin. Pilots are to specifically check this fitting during their pre-flight checks to prevent a recurrence. The AAIB report for this aircraft contains further details.	Injury Pilot: Unhurt

Last updated: 27 January 2026

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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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