Below is a summary of accidents and incidents that have been reported during each year. Thanks to all those who owned up. The list breaks down to just a few main catagories:
Not performing a thorough pre-flight check. Tape a checklist to your wing or harness where you can see it. If you get interrupted part way through, then start over again. Check your Wing, Harness, Leg Loops & Buckles, Helmet, Radio, Carabiner(s), Wind & Weather, and "Clear."
Poor or late decision making.
Not respecting the weather conditions. Conditions can change alarmingly fast, especially during the spring time. Winds can change direction or increase, and the sky can over-develop with horrible consequences. Keep your eyes open and make the decision to land before you are forced to.
Rules of the air. Regardless of who may have the right of way on a ridge or in a thermal... or in a thermal on a ridge, the number one rule is SEE AND AVOID. Take evasive action before you have to apply the other rules of the air.
2010 - 2011
Mar 2010 - At last year's IHPA parachute repack session we discovered one parachute that would not open when it was deployed. Indeed, it could not be opened as it was packed inside out! The parachute had been purchased new (or at least, not repacked since it left the manufacturer) and was discovered to have been incorrectly packed by the manufacturer with the pull-down apex line running outside the rest of the canopy. The owner/pilot had been flying with this canopy for some time with the entirely false sense of security that it offered. This incident underlines the extreme importance of test deploying and repacking your parachute regularly and not relying on the manufacturer or others to get it right. This incident was forwarded to the BHPA Technical Officer who replied that this was by no means an isolated incident and not limited one manufacturer! - CHECK YOUR PARACHUTE or get it checked by a professional.
May 2010 - A paraglider was sent off for inspection to The Loft in the UK who modified the brake lines by inserting a new swivel type maillion to separate the brake lines from the upper cascades. While flying at the Nine Stones after its return the pilot took off only to discover the brakes line on one side tangled around one of the new maillion. It was impossible untangle the lines in the air with the wing unable to fly straight, to prevent being blown over the back the pilot had to apply excessive brake nearly stalling the wing to land at the top. After this incident the pilot removed the maillions and just untwist the brake line when packing up the wing. This incident could have been prevented by carrying out a full and detailed Daily Inspection of the canopy and harness that all pilots are required to do EVERY day they fly. The Daily Inspection is quite separate to the Pre-Flight Checks that are carried out just prior to launch. Be relentlessly thorough in your Daily Inspection and Pre-Flight Checks - your life depends on it.
Jan 2011 - Mt. Leinster westerly car park - Novice hang glider pilot experienced difficulty getting upright in the control frame during the landing phase. His resulting semi-vertical position made it difficult to pull on sufficient airspeed to counter the wind gradient and he found himself unable to properly control the glider, resulting in a hard landing. One down-tube was broken and another bent. The pilot reported suffering a mild headache and some neck pain, indicative of a mild concussion. The pilot was able to correctly analyse the causes of the accident and believes that it was compounded by not having flown for a long time. That the pilot related, "Turns and control didn't feel precise... I just didn't feel 'in tune' with the glider" strongly suggests that he was not flying with enough speed to have proper control, and that the hang-point may have slipped too far back along the keel since his last flight. When this happens and you fly too slowly (nearer stall speed) and the glider is sluggish to respond to pilot input, and you get knocked about by every gust of air - very unpleasant! Pulling on sufficient airspeed is vital to maintaining control over any glider and effecting a successful landing. Novice pilots should pay close attention to the position of the hang point on the keel and mark the correct position for them with a pen. This can then be quickly verified during the Daily Inspection after rigging the glider.
Dec 2010 - Lanzarote - Novice hang glider pilot launched using an unfamiliar wing following two successful flights on another wing. The pilot experienced difficulty controlling the glider in light to moderate conditions and flew out to land. On approach to the landing field the pilot failed to maintain adequate airspeed and ground-looped the glider resulting in a broken arm. I am still waiting (March 2011) to receive details of the size of glider involved as it is possible that the rented wing may have been too large for the pilot and that insufficient wing-loading may have been a contributory factor (the accident report was only made last week.) Where insufficient wing loading is a factor it is doubly important to maintain a higher than normal airspeed in order to maintain control authority over the glider.
May 2010 - Mt. Leinster Black Banks - Paraglider pilot Krzysztof Zak stalled his wing while trying to core a thermal in light conditions, resulting is a spin and impact with the ground. Nearly one year on, Krzysztof remains paralysed from the chest down. A full and detailed analysis of this accident will appear shortly on the IHPA website along with the official report by the Department of Transport's Air Accident Investigation Unit. In brief, however, it appears that Krzysztof was flying with a low airspeed, close to a stall, when he over-braked and spun his wing close to the hill while thermalling below hill top height. Krzysztof responded by immediately releasing both brakes, though it is unclear if this had any effect due to the twisted lines. However, the owner's manual for his Nova Mentor M wing states that in the event of a spin only one brake should be fully released while using the other to continue to control the canopy. A number of important lessons can be drawn from this very serious and unfortunate accident:
Pilots must be fully aware of the correct remedial action to take in the event of a stall, collapse, spin or other departure from normal flight specific to the canopy they are flying. Different canopy manufacturers recommend subtly different pilot inputs to correct for various situations. BE FAMILLIAR WITH YOUR WING'S OPERATING PROCEDURES.
Pilots must be especially mindful of their airspeed when flying in or through thermals close to terrain. It is safer to fly out of a thermal than to risk a stall, collapse or spin by tightening the turn rate in an attempt to stay in a thermal.
Pilots should avoid turning full 360s in thermals while close to terrain and below hill top height. Doing so significantly increases the risk of an accident and puts the pilot and wing flying down-wind directly towards the hill. When flying the down-wind arc in a thermal air-speed often decreases while ground-speed can increase dramatically, leading to reduced control authority, less reaction time and placing the wing closer to the stall point. PILOTS ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TO FLY A SERIES OF FIGURE-OF-8 MANOEUVRES THROUGH THE THERMAL COLUMN UNTIL THEY HAVE CLEARED THE TOP OF THE HILL AND LOCAL TERRAIN BEFORE DEVELOPING THEIR TURNS INTO FULL 360s.
Aug 2010 - Priest's Leap, Bantry. A "student pilot" taking part in his first day's training with an as yet unidentified 'instructor / school' at an unsuitable training site (strewn with rocks) landed heavily on a rock and received multiple fractures to his ankle requiring extensive surgery. The injured student has not yet identified whom he was training with or whether they were qualified to instruct. I am actively pursuing this accident report.
Mar 2011 - Mt. Leinster westerly car park - Paraglider pilot Mariusz Lecyk stalled his canopy while attempting to top land. The canopy spun a number of times and ended up flying down-wind where the pilot impacted heavily and was dragged some metres before coming to a rest. The pilot suffered a broken arm and leg, and some spinal damage. This accident is still under active investigation by both the IHPA and the Department of Transport's Air Accident Investigation Unit and will be fully reported on the IHPA website and mailing list in due course.
2008 - 2009
13Apr08 Mt.Leinster Experienced HG Pilot fails to control his glider in moderate winds and
ground loops while standing at take off, breaking an
upright.
15Apr08 Mt.Leinster Experienced HG pilot failed to flare properly and ground-looped. Broke outer leading edge
LHS. Pilot winded.
15Apr08 Bunclody Experienced HG pilot did not maintain sufficient speed to cut through thermic
turbulence in the landing field and was turned at the last moment, resulting in
a ground loop. Pilot piled in hard and broke a rib when his chest mounted
parachute hit the ground. One upright slightly bent.
15Apr08 Mt.Leinster Intermediate HG pilot attempted to take off in nil-wind and piled in to
the rocks. Pilot was badly bruised and battered but walked away. Calypso glider
suffered a broken keel and battens.
18May08 Shankill beach
cliffs Experienced PG pilot misjudges his speed while turning downwind and
impacts the sea cliff. He is seriously injured and taken to hospital with
a fractured left wrist and a fractured left ankle.
18May08 Shankill beach
cliffs Intermediate PG pilot is forced into a dangerous emergency landing caused
by the PG close in front of him turning very tightly and not giving way. The
pilot who caused the incident was not a member of the IHPA and was known to be
the cause of previous incidents involving a total disregard for the rules of the
air.
??Aug08 Mt.Leinster
Unknown Polish PG pilot allegedly fractures his leg either while landing or
while collapsing his wing and being twisted and dragged - comment made in
passing to me in October by a new member while out on the hill.
11Oct08 Slieve
Gullion Novice PG is caught out by switchy winds while
landing and pendulums into a parked car before ending up in the heather behind
it. The pilot sustains two bruised ankles but is otherwise unhurt. The car is
undamaged.
02Nov08 Mt. Leinster
Ninestones Experienced HG soft-lands his brand new ATOS VQ
(on its maiden flight) in the tree tops attempting to top land at the
Ninestones. No damage to the glider, but his pride is severely dented and there
was a minor massacre amongst the trees involving a chainsaw, extricating the
glider!
02Nov08 Mt. Leinster
Ninestones Intermediate HG breaks two uprights bottom landing.
No report received.
??Feb09 Mt. Leinster
Westerly Car Park. Unknown eastern european pilot attempts to launch in
strong and gusty conditions. Unable to penetrate or control his wing in the
strong Venturi on top of the hill, he is turned downwind and impacts hard in the
car park area feet from a burned out van.
22Feb09 Lacken Novice
PG is caught out by increasing wind strength while flying Black Hill and is
blown backwards at speeds of up to 18kmh (GPS data.) He manages to touch down
safely during a lull, but soon finds himself being dragged at speed across a
boulder field and is badly bruised and battered. He is taken to Tallaght
hospital by Mountain Rescue, but happily x-rays reveal that nothing is broken.
Winds in the Mt. Leinster area were reaching 35kmh earlier in the day.
17Mar09 Killiney Hill
Experienced PG misjudges the wind strength at the HG launching area and is blown
up and back immediately on inflating his canopy. He lands in a tall larch tree
while his canopy settles in another. No injury to the pilot or damage to the
wing is reported.
2007 - 2008
Summary
of Accidents and Incidents 2007 - 2008: I don't
know if it is a reflection on a general improvement in pilot safety and decision
making or on the amount of flying we all got over the last year but I have only
two accidents to report this time around. Sadly both accidents were extremely
serious and the pilots involved were lucky to live.
28
Apr 06 – Maulin Mt. – Experienced PG is blown over the back of Maulin after
becoming trapped in a strong venturi at the saddle in strong (and strengthening)
and gusting winds. The pilot did not have a wind-meter and assumed it was ‘safe
enough’ as he could see other pilots in the air, even though they were not
penetrating. Immediately on launching, he was dragged up and back over the
saddle, breaking his speed-bar system in an attempt to penetrate. Realising he
couldn’t escape, he turned down wind and into strong rotor over the back which
resulted in
massive, consecutive collapses that ended in a severe impact. The
pilot was air lifted to Tallagh hospital. Injuries: a dislocated shoulder
(in-flight while fighting the wing) then fractured and compressed vertebrae on
impact. It is essential for all pilots to carry and use a wind-meter to
accurately assess the conditions before launching and not rely on ‘feeling the
wind on your cheek.’
30
June 06 – Kerry - Experienced HG finds himself landing in wave rotor with low
air speed. The wing is unresponsive to manoeuvring and flair, and the pilot
piles into the sand dunes resulting in two broken uprights, both leading-edge
nose-plate bolts bent and a bent heart-bolt. The pilot is
uninjured.
14
Oct 06 – Killiney Beach – Experienced HG dislocates his shoulder while
manoeuvring onto finals to land on Killiney beach after about an hour of smooth
flying before sunset. He manages to land the glider safely with just one arm but
falls through the A-frame resulting in nerve damage. He is ambulanced to
hospital. A contributing factor may have been that the pilot had spent most of
the day pulling a heavy garden roller up and down his garden, stretching and
weakening or fatiguing those tendons and muscles. Lessons learned: don’t engage
in heavy physical work before flying. Get someone else to do
it!
2006
– Rush Co. Dublin – Experienced PG scratching a low sea-cliff in marginal
conditions with the wind about 30degrees off the face gets too low and hits the
cliff top. While the wing remains inflated, it has lost too much energy to
continue soaring and the pilot is forced to bottom land in the surf, in about
18” of water. The pilot manages to keep his wing flying and walks it back up the
beach and back into the air again to continue flying! Although this incident has
a happy outcome, landing in water is potentially lethal and flying coastal sites
in marginal conditions is not recommended.
Jan
07 - Killiney beach – Experienced HG misjudges his sink rate (in nil-wind) while
loosing altitude over the sea before turning to land on the beach. He flares
into knee high surf but the waves reach his chest. He manages to climb out of
the water but not before a wave breaks one outer leading edge.
And
finally, an intermediate PG pilot reports that “Whilst
doing some ground handling today my reserve popped out (as they do.) In the past
it has remained pretty much intact and I have popped it back in, today however
it did a great job of unravelling. With the weather so good this week I have
considered flying without it as my height in Ireland rarely gets high enough to
use it anyway…”
Well
folks, it’s pretty simple – reserves shouldn’t just pop out. If they do then
there is a fundamental problem with the system for holding them safely in place
and you must not fly with a reserve container that does this. An accidental
deployment on launch or in the air could have very bad consequences for the
pilot, and it is not acceptable to fly without a reserve parachute. If you are
high enough to deploy it then you are high enough for it to save your life in a
real emergency situation. Get it fixed properly or replace the container system
altogether.
2005 - 2006
28Apr04 Kinsale, Co. Cork. Novice PG with 20 hours airtime, was ground handling in light winds (8-9mph.)
The pilot failed to control the canopy as it came overhead and was dragged
across the hill at considerable speed. The pilot’s ankle hit a tuft of
earth/grass and was dislocated and broken, requiring hospital treatment. This
report arrived too late for the 2005 AGM accident
summary.
04Jun05? Mt. Leinster. Experienced HG flies into a
barbed wire fence and is seriously injured, with gashes to one shin, which
requires hospital treatment. No report
received.
18Jun05 Mt. Leinster NW. Novice HG blows his launch and piles in breaking both uprights and putting a
serious turn into his wing (discovered later in the day.) The incident is
witnessed by several pilots and captured on video. Analysis shows that the pilot
picked up his wing and started running with his nose far too high and without
first levelling his wings. These errors, coupled with the fact that he started
his run too far back (on flat ground) from the steep edge, ensured that the
glider was in a full stall as soon as its nose entered the wind flow. The pilot
had no control of the glider, and one wing-tip dug in, resulting in a ground
loop. Given the rocky nature of this launch site, the pilot was extremely lucky
not to have been injured. Despite having to fight a severe turn in his wing, the
pilot continued to fly for over an hour before landing. A subsequent strip-down
and inspection reveal one wing to have bends in both the inner and outer leading
edge tubes. The pilot did not perform a pre-flight check before re-launching
after changing the uprights.
25Jun05 Mt. Leinster, Ninestones.
Experienced HG Trips while top-landing and flips his topless
glider right over so that he is lying on the underside of the sail. He is
unhurt, but de-tensions the sail and removes the battens to check that nothing
was damaged or bent. After thoroughly checking over the wing, he re-inserts the
battens but is distracted by someone coming over to talk to him and he forgets
to re-tension the sail. Later, he stands the wing back up on the A-frame and
attaches the nose-wires; clips in and launches. He climbs high and completes a
couple of beats across the hill before the glider starts to yaw badly. He pulls
on the VG to try and stabilise the wing, but realises that something serious is
wrong. He cleats the VG and looses height before attempting to top-land (to be
nearer his rescuers than if he bottom landed) but is unable to control the
glider. The wing impacts hard and the A-frame explodes. The pilot is unhurt but
badly shaken. He quickly discovers the de-tensioned sail after he is dragged
clear of the wing. This potentially fatal accident highlights the critical
importance of performing a thorough pre-flight check over the whole glider and
harness combination before each and every take-off. A pre-flight inspection
*must* be performed in addition to
the Daily Inspection when rigging is
completed.
23Jul05 Laragne, France. Experienced HG
ground-loops on take-off when his base-bar catches in shrubs
during a nil-wind launch. The pilot suffers two fractures to the spine; one in
the neck area and one lower down. He also breaks a tooth and is severely bruised
and injured. Air-rescue personnel initially think that he has broken his right
femur bone. He is air-lifted to Gap Hospital and undergoes surgery to fuse his
vertebrae. His glider suffers two broken leading edges, a broken keel and a torn
sail. Witness statements suggest that the pilot did not perform a very energetic
run and tried to jump into the air when he realised that the wing was not
flying. This accident clearly highlights the need to put as much energy as
possible into the launch regardless of the wind strength.
07Aug05 Mt. Leinster, Ninestones. Experienced
rigid HG breaks an upright landing in the bomb-out field in
nil-wind conditions.
07Aug05 Mt. Leinster, Ninestones. Experienced
rigid HG stalls in on landing in the bomb-out field in light wind
conditions. The wing noses-in and then flips right over onto its upper surface.
The pilot is catapulted through the A-frame and his Charly Insider helmet
receives a substantial impact which shatters the chin-guard. The pilot is
otherwise unhurt and the wing is undamaged. Thermal activity was observed to
reverse the wind direction frequently and quickly during the day and may have
been a contributing factor.
20Aug05 Mt. Leinster. Experienced PG lands in rotor behind the Black Banks and is dragged before he can
collapse his wing. He breaks a bone in his shoulder and is taken to
Loughlinstown Hospital by Dara Hogan for
treatment.
2004 - 2005
18Apr04 Westerly Car Park. Experienced HG
takes off in light conditions and turns right towards the forest, only to
get dumped in horrible sink. He arrives very low over the fields just below the
forest and tries to do a down hill landing. Big mistake. The slope of the field
is too great and he skims over two hedges before being forced to flare hard to
avoid a serious crash into a third hedge. The glider ends up stuck vertical in
the hedge and the pilot is able to release himself. No damage or injury was
sustained, but it could have turned out a lot worse. Given the very light
conditions, a fly-on-the-wall/downwind-uphill landing would have been a better
choice under the circumstances.
18Apr04 Nine Stones. Experienced HG stalls his glider into the ground while attempting to top land up the
hill. Given the generally westerly wind direction, he believes that he flew into
rotor behind the hill which caused the last minute stall. The glider nosed in
hard but was undamaged, however, the pilot lands awkwardly and twists his ankle
which later swells up badly.
18Apr04 Black Banks. Paraglider is blown back over the forest at the cattle grid and lands in tall
trees. He is suspended some 15-20 feet above the ground until he is rescued by
ladder wielding hangies who first take their time to carefully document the
scene photographically. Nice one Ken! No injury or damage is
sustained.
19Jul04 Laragne, France. Novice HG breaks both uprights attempting to land in the south bomb out field at
the Chabre. He is unhurt.
25Jul04 Laragne, France. Experienced rigid
wing HG stuffs his landing and breaks a carbon fibre strut/rib on one
wing tip.
26Jul04 Laragne, France. Experienced HG
hits an insulated power line with his leading edge and leg while attempting
to get into a very small field. The glider and pilot slide along the power line
before falling backwards to the ground. The pilot badly bruises both knees and
the glider suffers a broken keel and one upright.
30Jul04 Annacy, France. Experienced HG
breaks his wrist and destroys his A-frame attempting to land in
the official LZ when he could have safely landed in another adjacent field. He
says he was not paying attention to flying and was admiring the scenery on the
last flight of the holiday when he realised he was very low. He turned down wind
to get into the LZ field and had to bank over steeply to get the wing back into
wind. His left wing tip dug in and the glider spun into the ground. He was taken
to Annacy hospital for treatment.
10Aug04 Killiney. Experienced PG is
caught out by fog forming in the Killiney bay area. He attempts to fly blind,
but with GPS, down to the beach but ends up over the back and lands on waste
ground. His canopy is caught in trees and suffers damage. The pilot is
unhurt.
06Feb05 Nine Stones. Experienced HG misses the bottom LZ field and piles into a gorse bush in an adjoining
area of scrubland. It is his first flight of the season after a couple of months
off. No damage, but the pilot has to pick a lot of pricks out of his face. Pilot
says he spent too much time chasing little bits of lift when he should have been
on finals.
06Mar05 Greystones. Experienced HG starts his Booster powered harness with the throttle full on while not
attached to his glider. The propellers power up to full speed and the Booster
falls over, off its legs, and the blades plough into the ground destroying
themselves. The engine runs for some time at full revs before it can be killed.
The clutch becomes very hot (cherry red) and flames are seen and extinguished.
No injury was sustained, but this could have turned into a very serious
accident. Motors should never be started with the throttle set at full. Nor
should the engine be run at max revs on the ground without being clipped into
the glider and held firmly in place.
2003 - 2004
16Mar03 Anagh Hill LZ. Experienced HG pilot misjudges his altitude on approach and overshoots the landing field to hit the *only* tree in the next field while landing in knee-deep slurry. Possible minor damage to a leading edge.
16Mar03 Anagh Hill LZ. Experienced HG pilot bends an upright attempting a spot landing. He does further damage to it while trying to straighten it out.
16Mar03 Anagh Hill LZ. Experienced HG pilot breaks an upright on landing. He says he failed to do a proper flare.
16Mar03 Anagh Hill LZ. Experienced HG pilot breaks an upright on landing. He failed to do a proper flair.
17Mar03 Mt.Leinster SE takeoff / Diamond Field. A combination of high pressure and a strong inversion layer combine to produce terrifying lee side rotor and turbulence despite the nearly dead air at takeoff. Several very experienced pilots nearly come to grief on the way to and over the Diamond field. One HG pilot came very close to throwing his reserve while another HG hits the ground in massive sink, destroying his A frame. A PG pilot suffers multiple collapses and stalls going over the ridge towards the LZ.
30Mar03 Bray Head. PG pilot lands in the sea. No wind. Tide out. No Damage or injury.
30Mar03 Mt.Leinster Ninestones LZ. Experienced HG pilot flying a new wing which he has only a few hours on, screws up his approach and piles into the top of a tree only to fall out of it. He breaks his keel and tears both surfaces of his sail when a branch goes right through it. He also hurts his neck badly. His approach to the LZ was complicated by another pilot arriving at the LZ and in close proximity at the same time and height.
12Apr03 Mt.Leinster SE bowl bomb-out field. Experienced HG pilot makes his approach to the LZ from the up-wind side of the 10KVA power lines crossing the bottom quarter of the field. He hits sink and is forced to dive under the power lines; hits a sheep and piles into the upward sloping field. He sprains a wrist and hurts a knee. One upright is broken and an A-frame knuckle is broken.
24May03 Mt. Leinster - Westerly Car Park - Celtic Cup. Experienced HG allows his rigid wing to be flipped in strong and gusty conditions by not quartering it properly to the wind.
25May03 Celtic Cup LZ for day 2, near Courtown, on the coast. Shane O'Reilly attempts to loop his Climax 13 HG over the LZ and tumbles. He deploys his chute but impacts the ground before it has fully opened. He is rushed to Enniscourthy General Hospital for treatment and then to St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin the following day. Shane dies on 3 June 2003 after eight days in Intensive Care.
??May03? Killiney Head. Experienced PG is launches and is blown back into the trees and gorse behind the obelisk. No injury.
??May03? Killiney. Experienced PG lands short of the beach on a narrow gravel bank by the water's edge.
??May03? Killiney. Experienced PG lands on a bather at Killiney beach.
31May03 Killiney Head. Experienced PG pilot launches in a due south wind and immediately encounters strong sink. The pilot realises that he will not clear the tree tops in front and well below take off and aims for the largest and strongest looking tree. He grabs hold of a branch while his canopy deflates and holds on until the branch snaps and he falls 30' to 40' to the ground. The branch lands on him. Remarkably, the pilot suffers only minor bruising and winding from the fall while his wing slides to the ground undamaged. This site can only be flown in a South East breeze. The fact that the winds inland were a strong South West compared to the light SSE sea breeze should have alerted the pilot not to fly.
??MJJ Arra Mountain. Experienced PG pilots were flying into cloud at the edge of, but inside, controlled air space without having called Shannon ATC.
28Jun03 Dungiven, NI. Experienced PG pilot encounters rough air shortly after take off and spins his wing. He impacts the ground before he can recover and breaks his pelvis and shoulder. He is air lifted to Altneglevin hospital. "Grahame Newell has been air-lifted to hospital with a suspected broken pelvis and shoulder. Shortly following a launch from the bowl at Boviel he had some sort of collapse and did not have enough height to get it sorted before impacting the grass with (perhaps) a partially inflated wing. Conditions were certainly very thermic, producing some sinky and gnarly air in places."
??Jul03 Old Head of Kinsale. Novice/Student PG pilot flies this advanced site after being encouraged by two more experienced PG pilots. This is clearly an advanced site requiring more than 50 hours experience and a novice pilot has no business flying it. (Having examined an OS map of this site, it appears that there may be areas where it would be safe(er) for a novice pilot to fly. Need to do more research on this - local pilots?)
??Jul03 Old Head of Kinsale. Novice/Student PG pilot flies this advanced site after being encouraged by two more experienced PG pilots. This is clearly an advanced site requiring more than 50 hours experience. It's worth noting that the experienced pilots were leaving themselves open to possible legal action in the event of an accident or a fatality.
26Jul03 Near Ferns. Experienced PG Secumbs to his innate nesting instincts and lands in a hedge surrounded by open grassy fields. Much to his horror, there is a witness. No injury or damage... except to the hedge.
10Aug03 Mt. Leinster - on top of Slieve Bawn. Novice HG fails to control the pitch angle of his Synergy HG and fails to make a committed run, stalling into the ground just below take off. Soft and thick grass/moss prevent any injury or damage to pilot or wing, but had this been at the mast, then serious injury would have resulted.
10Aug03 Mt. Leinster - Slievebawn. Novice HG forgets to tension his wings prior to lifting the glider onto it's A frame. The wind gets under one wing and flips the glider over, 'clapping hands.' The glider suffers a broken keel, a broken inner leading edge, and a broken cross-boom plate. A contributing factor was that the pilot rigged his glider too far forward on the hill and thus was exposed to the full force of the wind when he lifted it up.
23Aug03 Mt. Leinster - NW takeoff. Novice HG fails to make a committed run and control the pitch of his glider at takeoff. His wing stalls into the ground just below takeoff into the only area of non-rocky terrain. Both uprights are broken. No injury is sustained. Serious injury would have been caused if he had landed in the rocks below or to either side. As this is his second successive failed launch he is told to go back to the training slopes and not to launch from any of the main flying sites until he has his nil-wind launch technique absolutely perfect. (I have a video clip of this.)
30Aug03 Mt. Leinster - Nine Stones. Experienced HG breaks an upright on his Exxtacy while top landing too far back on the hill.
30Aug03 Mt. Leinster - Nine Stones. Experienced HG breaks an upright on his Exxtacy/Ghostbuster while top landing too far back on the hill.
01Nov03 Comeragh Mts. Experienced builder and HG pilot wrecklessly bottom lands his van, on it's side, in a ditch, without giving any thought to the important drainage needs of these wonderful mountains or the ridicule he would subsequently suffer! Remember, damaged pride takes a lot more than a coat of paint to hide the scratches!
16Nov03 Mt. Leinster - ? Experienced HG noses in on landing, swings through the A-frame and hits the nose of his glider with his face, despite wearing a full face helmet. A black eye results.
??Jan04 Mt. Leinster - Westerly Car Park. Experienced HG fails to park his new Stratos rigid wing in a safe position with respect to the wind and it is flipped over during rigging... before its first flight. Possible reason: Nerves and jitters before flying a new toy - or - Dementia ;-)
??Jan04 Mt. Leinster - Westerly Car Park / Bonesetter's LZ. Experienced HG lands too close to the field boundary and hits a fence post with one wing. The post punctures both surfaces of the sail fabric which has to be returned to the manufacturer for repair. Possible reason: Unfamiliarity with handling characteristics of the new wing.
?????03 Killiney. Experienced HG misjudges his approach to the beach and accidentally lands on the grassy bank to the rear of the beach in moderate to fresh but gusty S.S.E. winds.
08Feb04 Mt. Leinster - Westerly Car Park. Experienced HG allows his wing to be flipped over by not quartering it to the wind properly. A carbon-fiber tip batten is broken.
08Feb04 Mt. Leinster - Nine Stones. Experienced PG launches in strong winds (N 14-20mph) and is unable to penetrate even with full speed bar applied. He is eventually blown over the back while attempting to top land and flies into lee-side rotor. He experiences three major and violent collapses in quick succession before being put down in a field, narrowly missing the forest.
28Feb04 Mt. Leinster - Nine Stones. Novice HG breaks an upright in the LZ.
28Feb04 Mt. Leinster - Nine Stones. Experienced HG gets caught out by a pocket of sink behind the Nine Stones while on finals for a top landing and gets dumped into a plantation of low Christmas trees. No injury or damage is sustained, though he did have to wait to be rescued as he was dangling some 8 feet over the ground.
28Feb04 Mt. Leinster - Nine Stones. Experienced HG breaks an upright on landing.
2002 - 2003
??JFM02 - Keeper Hill? - Experienced PG pilot suffers further knee damage on landing to a pre existing knee injury. Pilot can not fly for over a month.
??JFM02 - XC course in NI - Experienced HG pilot forgets to release his VB cord before landing. He finds himself totally out of position with regard to his chosen LZ and is forced to make an emergency landing, clipping some tree tops and landing cross wind in a field not of his choosing. His left wing tip touches the ground while he attempts to turn into wind and he piles in, breaking an upright and most of the battens on his right wing. The pilot was not injured.
??Apr02 - Nine Stones - Experienced HG pilot flying a new wing for the first time clips the trees bordering the landing field and is spun 180degrees, dropping into the field. No damage or injury is sustained.
14Apr02 - Nine Stones - Experienced HG pilot fails to make a comitted run at launch; ground loops and breaks an upright.
14Apr02 - Nine Stones - Experienced HG pilot ground loops during takeoff and noses in. No Damage.
14Apr02 - Westerly Car Park - PG pilot blown backwards over the carpark and ends up in the trees.
??Aug02 - Lacken - Experienced PG pilot launches in too strong conditions, is blown backwards. He pulls on 'Big Ears' and lands only to be dragged backwards when he can not deflate the wing. Pilot states, worryingly, that this has happened on several occasions.
01Sep02 - Mt.Leinster Mast - Over crowding in the air leads to several near misses. Some pilots are thermalling and some are ridging leading to confusion as to the rules of the air.
18Sep02 - Nine Stones - Experienced HG pilot misjudges his altitude on final approach; misses his intended landing field and has to manoeuver radically to put down in an adjacent field.
18Sep02 - Nine Stones - Experienced HG pilot takes off and flies for over two hours and lands to discover that his leg loops are not done up. Pilot had not flown for 18 months and did not do a proper pre flight check.
27Sep02 - Achill Island - Experienced HG pilot experiences trouble shortly after takeoff using a Booster powered harness and is forced to make an emergency landing. The propeller and drive shaft are damaged.
28Dec02 - Westerly Car Park - Experienced HG pilot can not get his legs into his harness after takeoff and is forced to land in the bomb-out field. A proper pre flight check would have revealed that the harness boot was turned inside out.
04Jan03 - Nine Stones - Novice HG pilot fails to make a comitted run and ground loops on takeoff. No damage.
19Jan03 - Westerly Car Park - Experienced HG pilot lands in the bomb out field below takeoff and is attacked by a ram. An upright is broken - by was it by the ram or the landing???
09Feb03 - Westerly Car Park - Experienced HG pilot experiences difficulty controlling his Calypso and lands safely after ten minutes. An inspection reveals that the Mylar on one side of his wing is folded over, deforming the leading edge.
15Feb03 - Diamond Field - Experienced HG pilot encounters unexpectedly strong, turbulent winds (25-30mph)in the landing field. He is blown backwards over the road and has to perform a diving 360 to avoid hitting trees and get into a small field not of his choosing. The resulting crash landing breaks an upright, deforms several battens and pulls muscels.
15Feb03 - Diamond Field - As above. Another pilot is forced to land in a field not of his choosing due to strong winds and turbulence in the LZ.
15Feb03 - Cross Roads Field - Experienced HG pilot flying a new wing for the first time encounters unexpectedly strong, turbulent winds (25-30mph) behind the landing field. He hits and breaks a telephone wire and drops down to hit a stone wall with one wing. The impact breaks a leading edge and causes both buckles in his harness leg loops to shatter. Also minor damage to the sail. The pilot is shaken but uninjured.
15Feb03 - Cross Roads Field - Experienced HG pilot encounters unexpectedly strong, turbulent winds (25-30mph) behind the landing field and is forced to land in a field not of his choosing. No damage or injury was sustained.
02Mar03 - Mt.Leinster Mast - Experienced HG noses in on landing and cuts his forehead on the front wires of his glider despite having a full fave helmet.
02Mar03 - Mt.Leinster Mast - Experienced HG forgets to weigh down the nose of his glider while attempting to slacken the sail in high winds. The wing, on the flat, flips over, taking the pilot with it and tumbles backwards several times narrowly missing another glider. No injuries, but the glider suffers a broken keel, inner leading edge, cross boom center plate and a batton.
02Mar03 - Bonesetters Field - Experienced HG lands after an epic first flight on a new wing only to be attacked by three sheep... again :-)
10Aug04 Killiney. Experienced PG is
caught out by fog forming in the Killiney bay area. He attempts to fly blind,
but with GPS, down to the beach but ends up over the back and lands on waste
ground. His canopy is caught in trees and suffers damage. The pilot is
unhurt.