Flight Safety Officer's Report
Irish Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association
AGM 2011
Training & Flight Safety Officer's Report
Spring Thermals: Spring is here! The weather is improving... the flying season has started and the thermals are strong and punchy! But let's face it, most of us are well out of practice after the long winter and crappy weather we had last summer. There have already been a number of serious incidents (north and south) directly related to spring thermals. Please take extra care when flying in these strong Spring Thermal conditions and stay out of trouble! Don't take risks near the ground trying to hook a thermal. Fly conservatively. Fly safely.
Lambing Season: Cute fluffy lambs are flopping out of evil smelling ewes (lady sheep, for ye townies!) all over the country right now - yes, lambing season is upon us, and it is a very sensitive time for sheep farmers.
If ewes are disturbed within a day or two of giving birth they can abandon the lambs, leaving the farmer to hand-rear the lambs or bury them if they die before being discovered. Please be super sensitive at this time of year. Do not fly low or land anywhere near sheep until lambing season is well and truly over. Please don't do anything to frighten them. Always check your LZ before you launch - you should be putting a windsock in it any way, as a matter of course.
Silage Crops: On a related note, a little later in the year farmers take a crop of green grass off the fields for making silage (winter feed for livestock) and generally ask us to avoid landing in any fields with long grass to avoid flattening this important crop. There are a number of fields around Mt. Leinster that are affected (the cross-roads field being one) that should be avoided until the grass has been cut and baled. Watch the mailing list for further details.
Weather Station: Thanks to the hard work and persistence of Gerry Kennedy, Tom Cardas and several others we now have our own weather station on Mt. Leinster feeding very accurate weather data back to our website. The IHPA would like to say a very sincere Thank You to all involved in getting this project off the ground and sitting on top of a 14m telegraph pole! Well done guys!
The Hang Gliding Bursary Scheme: In 2006 the IHPA announced a bursary scheme to attract new pilots try out hang gliding and to try to arrest the gradual decline in numbers participating in this sport. Since then the bursary has attracted no less than 18 new students to try out the sport. However it should be noted that as yet, no one has yet made any claim on the bursary and no IHPA money has been paid out even though some were entitled to do so. The majority of potential claimants have since let their subscription to the bursary scheme lapse and are no longer eligible to claim even. Only one possible claimant remains actively involved in the scheme. The terms of the bursary are strict and strictly adhered to, and minimise the potential claims on IHPA funds while successfully attracting a good number of new people to try the sport. Several novice hangies flying today came to the sport through the bursary scheme. Personally I think it represents excellent value for money not spent!
Flying at Killiney: All pilots are reminded that the Killiney Hill flying site is inside Dublin Airport controlled airspace and REQUIRES PERMISSION from Dublin ATC before it may be flown. Killiney is a very sensitive site, and our licence to fly there is strictly based on all pilots being current members of the Association being fully insured and having signed the waiver.
Contact Dublin ATC (ask for the Data Assistant) on 01 8144601
follow the script on the website at:
http://www.ihpa.ie/index.php/understanding-airspace/61
Killiney Hill is NOT an open flying site, and the activities of non-member pilots flying there is likely to lead to the closure of the site by the authorities. It is up to you, the members of the IHPA to protect your interests and ensure that all pilots are aware of the situation.
This is an appeal to all members - If you see non-member pilots flying at Killiney, please make every effort to talk to them in a friendly manner and explain the site rules to them, and why they need to join the IHPA before flying there again. If there is any doubt or difficulty getting the message across, then please refer them to me at
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or get their email/mobile contact details and I will follow it up.
Full details of the rules governing Killiney are available on the IHPA website at:
http://www.ihpa.ie/index.php/restricted-flying-sites and
http://www.ihpa.ie/index.php/understanding-airspace/61
Flying at Lacken - There have been a number of instances of helicopters flying low over paragliders and hang gliders at Lacken. Such encounters could prove fatal to both paraglider / hang glider and helicopter pilots alike. Following discussions between Casement Aerodrome and Alan de Tourtoulon it has been agreed that anyone planning to fly at Lacken should contact Casement ATC on 01 403 7514 and advise them that paragliders and/or hang gliders are active in the area, and ask them to alert all powered aircraft not to approach within at least 1km of the area. For further details of flying sites affected by airspace in Ireland, please read the Understanding Airspace section on the Flight Safety pages.
Glider Maintenance: Before the flying season really kicks off, now is the time to read through the section of your wing's Owner's Manual that deals with mandatory maintenance and replacement of risers (PG), side-wires (HG) and other "consumable" items. Get the work done by a reputable fitter or business and be ready for the coming year. Your life depends on these relatively cheap components and they should be replaced regularly as a matter of course - just as you would replace the ink cartridge in your printer. Do it now - and fly safely!
Red Ribbons: All novice pilots MUST fly with a length of red ribbon attached to their harnesses (PG) or king-posts (HG) until they have *at least* ParaPro3 / SafePro3 + 10 hours. This is to help identify you to other pilots as an inexperienced pilot and that you need assistance to judge the weather conditions and the site, and to give you plenty of clearance in the air. The Red Ribbon is intended to increase everyone's level of safety in the air and on the ground. Please use it and please respect it!
Pilot Ratings: We remind all pilots that they must hold a minimum pilot rating of Para Pro 3 or Safe Pro 3 before they may free-fly without direct supervision outside the school environment. Please do not be tempted to fly without supervision and instruction until you have passed your PP3/SP3 exam and completed ALL the exercises and experience requirements set down in the training syllabus. Any 'extra curricular' flights not signed off by your instructor will not count towards the experience requirements you need for the PP3/SP3 rating.
I would encourage all PP3 / SP3 pilots to continue studying and working towards their Para Pro 4 / Safe Pro 4 pilot rating. Achieving PP4/SP4 demonstrates to everyone that you take the safety and knowledge requirements that this sport demands seriously and that you are a safe and conscientious pilot. A Para Pro 4 / Safe Pro 4 pilot rating is a significant achievement and a feather in your cap!
IHPA Website: Please visit the IHPA website regularly (www.ihpa.ie) for the latest news and announcements - It is updated on a frequent basis. Please note that although the website is in English, there is a GoogleTranslation tool at the top right of every page, so that foreign pilots can read it also. I know the translation provided by GoogleTranslate can be a bit rough, but it's better than nothing. Please make all foreign pilots aware of this facility - and direct them especially to the Flight Safety pages.
We had been hoping to make the change over from the traditional mailing list to the more useful on-line forums this month but due to certain technical difficulties (following a non-reversible software upgrade) this will now have to wait until our Internet Service Provider can upgrade us to a more up-to-date server.
The new software allows users to subscribe to specific forum categories and ignore others so that you are no longer forced to trawl through topics that are of no interest to you. You will continue to receive all the posts made to forums you are subscribed to directly to your email in-box, however you will need to log-in to the forum to post your replies rather than just hitting the 'Reply' button. This also should reduce the level of inconsequential traffic. The forums provide a far more readable structure and history for topics under discussion than the present mailing list. Full notice and instructions will be emailed to all mailing list members when the change is ready to go ahead.
Summary of Accidents & Incidents 2010 - 2011: Very few incidents were reported last year - I don't know if this reflects the poor flying season or better flying skills exhibited by pilots (likely story!), but here are a few I have managed to track down. Please remember that it is important to report accidents and incidents (to
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) so that we can all learn from them and hopefully avoid repeating them.
I would remind all members that it is as much your job to report accidents and incidents, and to talk to pilots they see flying dangerously or taking risks as it is the Training & Flight Safety officer's job to follow up these reports. It's no use complaining that 'a pilot or group of pilots was flying dangerously and you (the IHPA) did nothing about it' unless you both report the incident promptly and give me the information I need (names!) to follow it up. I follow up every incident report I receive, and do my best to investigate even the vaguest reports that filter through to me eventually... but I am not psychic - I need your help!
I want to thank the few pilots who had the self-honesty to own up to their mishaps and report them to me unprompted - hopefully we can all learn from these incidents and save ourselves from repeating them.
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 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 serious and very unfortunate accident:
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) 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.
Please try and make 2011 a safer year for yourself and everyone you fly with.
Fly safely - fly conservatively - fly considerately - fly vigilantly.
Fly as if your life depended on it - IT DOES!
Safe flying in 2011
_______________________
Phil Lardner
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IHPA Training & Flight Safety
