2014

 2014 - 2015

Apr 2014 - Lough Bray, Co. Wicklow - Experienced Tandem PG suffers a serious collapse after failing to penetrate into a violently strong spring thermal and impacts the ground heavily. Both pilot and passenger were seriously injured (broken bones) and both were air lifted to Tallaght Hospital.

The IHPA's accident investigation closely inspected the tandem canopy and harness, and identified a possible contributory factor. The two trim tabs were unequally set (one cinched tight - the other almost fully open) which may have affected how the canopy recovered from a collapse.

The Department of Transport's Air Accident Investigation Unit published their report into the accident on 16 February 2015.

AAIU Report No: 2015-002

In their report the AAIU make the following Safety Recommendation to the Irish Aviation Authority:

"The IAA should review paraglider flying in relation to compliance with the applicable Statutory Instruments, consider promulgating an advisory memorandum giving suitable guidance to operators of paragliders for other than “private use” and also consider if additional education and enforcement activities are required to ensure awareness of, and compliance with, the relevant statutory provisions."

The law requires the IAA to act, or initiate action on a Safety Recommendation within 90 days of publication, and the IHPA have been closely involved in guiding the IAA in how to respond to the Recommendation. The fine details are still being negotiated. However, the short version is this: All tandem pilots will be required to hold a License to operate. All commercial tandem operations, outside of the training school environment, will likely be prohibited once the new regulation is written into the Air Navigation Order. In other words, only qualified instructors will be permitted to charge a fee for tandem flights, and only as part of a training programme.

Pilots flying in breach of the regulation risk arrest and prosecution under the law. The IHPA is working very hard to make sure that it (and not the IAA) become responsible for the administration of the new licensing system in order to minimise the costs and effort the regulation will place on tandem pilots to comply with the law.

The IAA continue to view the IHPA as the most appropriate body for overseeing the regulation of the sport in Ireland, and work continues with regard to the IAA approving the IHPA Operations Manual.

Jun 2014 - Rossbehy, Co. Kerry - Experienced HG flying an Stratos rigid wing experieced a structural failure in flight. While banked over (very steeply) in a rough thermal, one of the brackets connecting the base bar to the upright snapped and the A-frame opened up. Quick action by the pilot allowed him to grab the upright before it swung out of reach and he was able to hold the A-frame together and make a safe landing. It is possible that the pilot may have over stressed the A-frame by weight-shifting beyond the normal limiting stops built into the control system of the rigid wing A-frame. The incident was reported to the manufacturer and disseminated around the international hang gliding community.

Jun 2014 - Croghanmoria Mt. (Ballinacor Estate) - Co. Wicklow - unidentified PG is seriously injured in a crash landing and is air lifted to Tallaght Hospital. No further details are available. However, the IHPA received an email from a the Ballinacor Estate Manager who was very unhappy that the pilot had not sought permission before coming on to estate property and flying there. All flying is now prohibited on this Croghanmoria Mt.

Lesson to be learned: If you identify a new flying site, you MUST make contact with the landowner and seek their permission before you fly. If you do not want to talk to the landowner yourself then please ask the IHPA committee to make representations on your behalf.

Jul 2014 - Lacken, Co. Wicklow. Experienced PG reports an issue with a new Woody Valley Haska harness. The main chest buckle opened in-flight, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. On examination, the buckle locking mechanism was found to be jammed in the open position. The problem was reported to the manufacturer (and the IHPA mailing list) and the harness was returned. Woodey Valley issued the following notice on the strength of this incident:

"Woody Valley have sent out a safety notice informing of unwanted openings of some of their light automatic buckles from recognised batches located on the main chest strap of their harnesses. A safety note has been produced for publication by the DHV and will also appear in Skywings. Woody Valley have stated that they will offer a free replacement of any faulty buckles."

Sep 2014 - Lough Bray, Co. Wicklow - multiple reports and complaints were received of dangerously aggressive flying by one particular PG pilot. Student and low air time pilots were forced to take evasive action and, in more than one case, make an emergency landing to avoid a mid-air collision. One low air time pilot forced to land suffered minor injuries as a result.

Lough Bray is our primary training site and all pilots should be keenly aware that the other pilots flying there are likely to be inexperienced pilots or students undertaking their first high flights. While the normal Rules of the Air still apply, extra consideration must be given to all pilots when flying this site.

If you are an experienced pilot - GIVE WAY - do not place other pilot at risk by asserting your 'right of way.' The number one rule of the air is SEE AND AVOID.

Sep 2014 - Lough Bray, Co. Wicklow - a Tandem pilot and passenger land in the lake. No further details available. This was an extremely serious accident with the potential for two fatalities and the loss of a flying site. Given the abundant landing options around Lough Bray, there is absolutely no excuse for making an error of this magnitude - for either a tandem or solo pilot.

Mar 2015 - Ballyvandon, Co. Wexford - Experienced PG pilot attempts to land down wind of the top of the cliff, suffers a 9/10ths collapse and impacts the ground from approximately 25 feet. The pilot attributes his lucky escape from serious injury to the airbag in his harness and blind luck at landing in a soft field rather than the rocky ground a few meters away. Despite badly bruising his hip (he was unable to move his leg the following day) he made a full recovery within two weeks.

Lesson to be learned: Expect to find strong rotors behind the lip of a cliff up to seven times the height of the cliff - this distance increases with stronger winds. Avoid flying through or landing in this zone.

2013

2013 - 2014

 Missing!... but I'll find 'em eventually!!

2012

2012 - 2013

• Mar 2012 - Experienced PG notices a large twig snagging his A+B lines (upper gallery of lines) causing his canopy to be deformed. Unable to dislodge the snag, the pilot landed safely and cleared his lines. Although difficult to see when inflating and launching, the pilot said that he did not take the time to do a thorough check of his lines before letting his feet leave the ground... but now *makes* the time to perform a proper visual check of his lines before becoming airborne.
  • Although not an accident, this very good report serves as a reminder to all to perform your pre-flight checks properly and thoroughly!

•  Mar 2012 - Intermediate PG flying at Annagh Hill failed to spot that the knot attaching the break line to its handle was coming undone. In flight, and during a turn, the knot comes undone leaving the pilot with only one break. Unable to reach the break line now trailing behind him, the pilot was able to turn away from the hill using weight shift and use big-ears to fly out towards a safe LZ where he landed 'a little fast' and untidily. After landing safely, the pilot remembered that he could have steered the wing with his 'D' lines, but forgot in the heat of the moment. To compound matters, he says that he wasn't wearing a helmet or using a back protector or speed-bar system, which he had discarded in his rush to get up the hill!
  Lessons to be learned:
  • ALWAYS perform a thorough DAILY INSPECTION
  • ALWAYS perform your PRE-FLIGHT CHECKS properly
  • ALWAYS fly with a helmet, back protector and speed-bar fitted
  • There are NO EXCUSES for not doing these things!
• Mar 2012 - A PG pilot is observed to get dragged during a failed attempt to launch. Unaware that his reserve parachute has been pulled out of its container, the pilot attempts to re-launch but is stopped by another pilot before it is too late.
  Lesson to be learned:
  • ALWAYS check your reserve parachute before each launch attempt
  • ALWAYS perform your PRE-FLIGHT CHECKS before EACH launch attempt!
•  May 2012 - Experienced HG pilot flying in the British Open Series in SE Wales is forced to land in strong and gusty conditions in a tight field surrounded by trees. Misjudging his final turn, his wing tip catches the grass and he is spun into the ground breaking both uprights and a carbon cross-boom. The pilot is totally unhurt! The pilot found himself at the junction of three valleys with strong wind blowing up all of them, causing severe turbulence. He also suggests that he landed with too much VG on (sail too tight) because he was busy concentrating on 'other things!'
• Mar 2012 - Self-taught, PG pilot flying a 2006 Gradient Aspen 2 (EN C) canopy in very strong and gusty conditions on Monavullagh Mt. (Comeragh Range, Co. Waterford) impacts the ground and sustains a serious spinal injury and multiple compound fractures to his right leg, requiring the Air-Sea Rescue helicopter to evacuate him to hospital. Conditions on the day were very unstable with cumulonimbus cells developing right across the country. The pilot had flown successfully between squall and rain showers but was caught out in the air by a rapidly advancing squall. The pilot was blown backwards and suffered a 70% collapse of his canopy which sent him priralling into the ground from around 15m. The pilot was then lifted back into the air and impacted a second time before being dragged. The full AAIU report is published on the Serious Accident Reports page of this website.
  Questions for pilots to consider:
  • Do I have a sufficient knowledge of macro- and micro-meteorology to understand the weather?
  • Do I understand just how deadly cumulonimbus storm cells are and how far their influence reaches?
  • Do I have sufficient professional training to fly safely or am I trusting to luck?
  • Am I flying with suitable and appropriate equipment for my skill level and for the weather conditions?
  • Do I really want to risk ending up in a wheelchair for the rest of my life? What can I do to avoid that?
• Jul 2012 - Experienced Austrian PG pilot on holiday with his family on Achill, following a successful flight off Menawn, is dragged while practicing ground handling on top of the mountain and sustained serious back injuries. He is dragged into an inaccessible location requiring mountain rescue to extract him to a safe location for helicopter evacuation to Castlebar Hospital. No further details are available.
• Jul 2012 - Experienced PG pilot flying off Bray Head in what he reports as a 50km/h NNE wind flies too far along the ridge and into strong rotor sink in the lea of the ridge. He then finds himself unable to make it back to the area of lift near launch and is faced with landing on jagged rocks or ditching into the sea. The pilot, having unbuckeled from his harness, was able to avoid getting tangled in his lines and dragged down with his equipment when he hit the water, and was in the sea for over 15 minutes before being rescued by fishermen in a boat.
  Some points for pilots to consider:
  • Bray Head takes a generally Easterly wind direction. The north end (near the cross) can be flown in an ENE to NE. It is not a safe site in a NNE for obvious reasons - if you get blown to either side of the small NNE-N face then you are immediately out of the lift, in strong sink and in serious trouble!
  • Is it really advisable to fly a paraglider (or a hang glider for that matter) in a 50km/h (31+mph) wind? No matter how smooth and laminar the air is coming off the sea, 50km/h is firmly at the top of the speed range of a paraglider and leaves absolutely no margin for error or further increase in wind speed.
  • When flying a paraglider (or hang glider) over the sea, a readily accessible hook-knife would be a very good idea to have!
• 2012 - Experienced PG pilot flying at Killiney is caught out by the increasing onshore wind, which forced him to fly over the back of the hill into a densely populated residential area after doing a steep 360deg turn too close to the ridge which placed him well inside the Venturi flowing over the hill. Fortunately the pilot was able to avoid the worst areas of rotor behind the hill and managed to land safely in a very confined space surrounded by houses, trees, fences and other obstructions.
  Lesson learned:
  • As the pilot said... "The margin for error is inversely proportional to the increasing strength of the wind!"
• 2012 - Experienced PG pilot landing in a field in Spain finds himself flying downwind at speed, close to the ground over a rocky area. After clearing the rock field he attempts to turn back into wind and slow down but is faced with a stand of trees and a stone wall forcing him to turn tighter, increasing his speed and G-force. The pilot narrowly clears the stone wall by lifting his legs and skids into the next field on his backside and unable to stop himself, slides along for some 10m before impacting a ridge of earth. The pilot suffers a serious back injury (a wedge fracture of the L1 vertebra) and is med-evac'd to hospital and then home for further treatment nine days later. Possible causes: Changing airflow possibly caused by a strong thermal kicking off nearby - or - possible rotor or wave sink associated with the local terrain.
• 2012 - Experienced PG pilot flying the Blackwater sea cliffs in the company of several other PGs has a mid-air collision with another pilot's canopy causing his own canopy to collapse and spin the pilot into the ground before any corrective action could be taken. The pilot receives severe pelvic and spinal injuries. The other pilot landed safely. It is believed that the two pilots involved in the collision had agreed to fly in close proximity to each other and to use hand-held video cameras to record their flight. It is understood that one or both pilots may not have had full control of both break lines of their respective gliders when they found themselves on a collision course. With their hands otherwise occupied, one or both pilots were unable to take evasive action in time. It is further understood that the injured pilot was flying a Sol Torck 1 (LTF 2-3) or a Torck 2 (EN D) - both of which are top-end competition wings which require very precise pilot input and significant altitude to recover normal flight after a collapse or spin. The sea cliffs at Blackwater, and the average altitude pilots were observed flying at (video evidence examined) suggest that there was no room for error and no altitude in which to effect a recovery from a collapse before impacting the ground. This accident is still under investigation by both the AAIU and the IHPA.
  Some points for pilots to consider:
  • When flying a narrow lift band at low altitude - is it safe to take your hands off the controls for even a second?
  • The pilot must be in control AT ALL TIMES and FLY THE AIRCRAFT.
  • Is it wise to fly top-end wings on sites where altitude will always be an issue? If your glider cannot recover from a collapse or spin at low level then either don't fly that site, or fly it with a more forgiving glider. Give yourself every chance to survice!
  • USE EQUIPMENT APPROPRIATE TO THE FLYING SITE.
    

2011

2011 - 2012

• Apr 2011 - PG pilot discovers a fault with his reserve parachute while repacking it at an IHPA Reserve Parachute Repack session. One of the bridle lines comes detached from the main knot of lines at the bottom. This incident highlights the need for pilots to closely inspect all parts of their reserve parachute systems and not rely on sending them away for repacking. Full details of this incident were forwarded on to the BHPA's Technical Officer, who published it in Skywings Magazine. Many thanks to Gregorz for sharing this discovery.
• 2011 - Experienced PG pilot flying Dune de Pyla snagged his canopy on one tree while flying and was swung into a second tree. The canopy was shredded. The pilot admits to have been daydreaming and that there really was no excuse for the lapse of concentration! No injury reported.
• 2011 - Experienced PG pilot attempting to fly a new wing off a narrow plateau on the side of Ben Goram (Mayo) inflated his canopy but over corrected the controls, causing one wing tip to stall and spin into the ground. The pilot was pulled off balance and dragged over the edge of the plateau, narrowly escaping a fall of 40 feet onto rocks. The pilot suggests a number of factors contributing to the incident - new wing (unfamiliar with the controls), new flying site, wind not quite right and a poor analysis of the dangers. If nothing else, this incident highlights the need for pilots to become thoroughly familiar with the controls and response of their new wings through extensive ground handling.
• Feb 2012 - Novice HG who had not flown in over a year dislocated his elbow, requiring minor surgery in hospital, when he had to flare too high over the landing field. This was his second top-to-bottom flight of the day. Arriving over the landing field with too much height, the pilot did not attempt to loose his excess altitude by performing Figure-8 or S-turns, and found himself running out of usable field, forcing him to perform a flare from some 10 feet. The pilot landed with arms fully extended upwards but the weight of the glider caused his elbow to dislocate. The glider was undamaged. The elbow was re-set by a local bone-setter, but an X-ray later revealed damage requiring minor surgery.
• Mar 2012 - Annagh Hill - Novice PG failed to perform even the most basic pre-flight-checks before launching without either his helmet, back-protection airbag or speed-bar system. Once in the air, the knot attaching one of his break lines to the control handle came undone, severely limiting the pilot's ability to control the glider. The pilot used his remaining break line and weight shift to effect a landing away from the crowded hill. The pilot was extremely lucky to be able to land safely without injury to himself or causing a serious mid-air collision with another glider.
  • There is absolutely no excuse for not performing a full and detailed pre-flight check *every time* you prepare to take off. Your life and the lives of other air-users depend on it.
• Mar 2012 - Annagh Hill - A praglider pilot was observed being dragged across the top of the launch area resulting in his reserve parachute being pulled out of its container. Unaware of this, the pilot attempted to relaunch before being stopped by other pilots on the hill.
  • Again, this incident highlights the absolute need to perform a full and detailed pre-flight check before each and every launch. Your life and the lives of other air-users depend on it.
• Mar 2012 - Comeragh Mts. - a non-member paraglider pilot, flying a Swing Salto 19 acro wing (suitable only for very advanced pilots), is seriously injured and was airlifted to Waterford hospital with life threatening injuries. The pilot was attempting to fly in strong, gusty conditions (wind speed was reportedly in excess of 24mph, with CU-Nm developing all around the country) when he spun the glider and impacted the ground heavily. The pilot received multiple compound fractures to one leg, broken ribs, internal organ damage and possible spinal injuries. As yet it is unknown if the pilot had any training or held a pilot rating or licence from his own country. Four weeks after the accident, the Air Accident Investigation Unit have been only allowed to briefly interview the pilot. This accident is under continued, active investigation, and a more thorough interview with the pilot is planned once he is recovered sufficiently.

2010

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.

2009

2008

2008 - 2009

• 

  What's wrong with this image? :-)

  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

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.

• April 2007 - Serious Accident Report - Ryszard Porebski
• June 2007 - Serious Accident Report - David O'Quigley

2006

2006 - 2007

• 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.

  

  Poor decision making...

• 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

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

2004 - 2005

2003

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

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 :-)