Inappropriate Pattern or Preparation for Landing

An EN B pilot misjudged the landing approach at the V in a NE wind early in October and landed the glider in a tree in a private yard.

This accident category is inappropriate pattern or preparation for landing.  Flying downwind during a landing pattern or while approaching an LZ can easily get a pilot in a position impossible to reach the LZ due to even a small amount of upwind flying required to get to the LZ.  Approaching an LZ with wind pilots should always get to a position upwind of the LZ while they still have enough altitude to reach the LZ.   

Thermic Scratching

Early in the Spring of 2018 an experienced intermediate pilot flying an EN B glider in mid-day conditions suffered a cascading collapse ending with ground impact and serious injuries.  

The category of this serious accident was Thermic Scratching.  Close to the ground, shifts in wind direction, caused by a lot of reasons, even to include channeling by the terrain, can create turbulence and rotor in unexpected places.   Encountering this turbulence without adequate altitude to recover the glider or deploy the reserve can easily result in high energy impact with the ground and serious injury or death.  

The difference in this type of impact between various injury severities and death is simply the geometry of the arc the glider swings the pilot on and the angle of the ground at the moment of impact.  All factors a pilot has absolutely no control over in this situation.

Flight Outside of Conservative Equipment Parameters

An experienced intermediate pilot flying an EN D two-liner glider in mid-day conditions early in August east of Monroe Mountain, experienced loss of control in violent lee-side turbulence and saved the situation by throwing the reserve.

Potentially two categories apply here; 1 Flight outside of conservative equipment parameters and 2 Flight in known/knowable turbulence.

Moving up to a higher performance glider is a difficult decision to make.  The conservative advice recommends an annual hours of flight requirement, SIV on an advanced glider and completely dominating a glider of the class below in the most difficult conditions you will ever fly in.  

Some pilot never fly in the lee others do it under certain weather conditions and with complete confidence in their ability to handle their glider in turbulence and their ability to deploy their reserve. 

This pilot is to be commended for throwing the reserve when control was lost below 500 feet.  A potentially life-saving decision.

Flight Outside of Conservative Weather Parameters

Early in the Spring a P4 pilot flying an EN B glider attempted to kite on a mountain site in gusty and cross  conditions.  The pilot was plucked and drug causing a minor injury to an arm.  The category of this accident is flight outside of conservative weather parameters.  

Kiting on or above a steep mountain face adds the possibility of thermic lift in the wind making it very difficult to avoid being plucked into the air.  A great deal of practice kiting on flat terrain in strong wind can help develop the skills required to launch a windy mountain site.  Often repacking the glider and walking down is the better decision.  

Flight Outside of Conservative Progression Parameters

Two novice pilots P2 were ridge soaring the ridge line north of the V launch in early October and soared back too deep in the canyon and unable to reach an appropriate LZ due to the headwind component of the return direction.  One pilot landed in a tree and needed assistance to get out of the tree one landed in a bush and got out alone.  

The accident category here was flight outside of conservative experience progression parameters.  Novice pilots just learning a site should basically follow other pilots and not explore on their own.  Experience teaches that the crosswind component of wind can easily make it possible to fly a line deep into terrain and impossible to return.  If in doubt reverse course occasionally and check penetration flying back out of the terrain.  

Inappropriate Pattern or Preparation for Landing

An EN B pilot misjudged the landing approach at the V in a NE wind early in October and landed the glider in a tree in a private yard.

This accident category is inappropriate pattern or preparation for landing.  Flying downwind during a landing pattern or while approaching an LZ can easily get a pilot in a position impossible to reach the LZ due to even a small amount of upwind flying required to get to the LZ.  Approaching an LZ with wind pilots should always get to a position upwind of the LZ while they still have enough altitude to reach the LZ.   

Inappropriate Pattern or Preparation for Landing

A very inexperienced P2 pilot made a non traditional approach to the North Side bench landing area. It was characterized by a pointing downwind to start the approach and the pilot ( presumably ) was overwhelmed by the high ground speed and dramatic altitude loss that ensued. Pilots usually do one of two things at this point. 1) they point straight down wind ( under react ) and land going down wind 2) they over brake and cause a spin/ stall event.

This pilot over braked and suffered a back injury of unknown severity.

A few things about this:

1) there is only one advisable approach to the landing on the north side bench and starts with the pilot facing NE by the fence on the north side at a reasonable height ( not too low and not too high ) a soft 30 - 80 degree turn over the bench followed by a return to an into wind heading before touch down  ( all of this depends on the amount of wind )

2) for some reason, just about any other type of approach doesn't work and looks scary

3) if you need to make an emergency turn, make sure it is done with weight shift - this will drastically decrease the odds of a spin event. The only way to make sure that you use weight shift in an emergency is to use weight shift every - single turn. If your head never moves outside the riser in a turn then you have room for development. Pilots that are athletic in the harness enjoy, easier turning, better precision, less risk of spin and better performance in an emergency.

PG Student Lower Leg Fracture August 2019

A PG student suffered a lower leg fracture while landing in low wind early in the morning.

PPG Accidents

There were three notable PPG accidents Summer 2019, one was navigation into rotor with the trimmer on fast which resulted in a very large deflation and spiral. One was a new pilot launching mid day who was un-nerved by the texture of the air and failed to keep a positive climb rate + didn't manage the into wind heading. Another resulted in substantial injury but the exact cause is unknown. One of the pilots had hundreds of flights but hadn't flown for a full season yet. Two of the pilots were under trained. One of the accidents was fatal. Two of the pilots suffered substantial injuries requiring long term rehab with looming questions about full recovery.

PPG pilots who don't spend 30-50 flights with the instructor are at a huge disadvantage especially if fly in the desert ( Utah ) and if they dabble in flying their motors near the mountains. Beach training and/ or minimal training do not give PPG pilots the baseline information that they need in order to be able to stay out of trouble for their first season. Pilots who receive beach training should limit themselves to very simple sites in simple conditions and should seek mentorship as they choose to explore.

Numerous Close Calls Summer 2019

Numerous close calls were reported via various means during the Summer. Pilots generally walked away from these side hill crashes into bushes or trees. Experience tells us that this is just good luck. On an unlucky day, the same crashes could result in serious injury. Some were deflation events, some were spin/ stall events. Deflations come from insufficient brake and stall/ spin events come from too much brake.

A few things about this:

1) kiting is key, if your glider always deflates when you are kiting, then you don't know how to feel the brakes and you shouldn't be flying in thermals - kite enough so that no wake or gust or thermal etc. deflates your glider

2) kiting is key, if you oftentimes over brake and your kiting is characterized by constantly having the glider on the ground and having to inflate once again - you guessed it, you are likely to stall and/ or spin it in the air and you shouldn't be flying ( especially in thermals )

3) few pilots get really good at managing too much vs. too little brake while kiting or flying on their own - we all need help - get with your instructor, get with your friends - this is the finest are in paragliding

4) correct responses are key - paragliders ( by definition ) want one thing - one second and another thing the next

5) again on the kiting - the absolute best thing you can do to prove that your in air responses will be correct is ---> don't let your kiting be characterized by the glider coming to rest on the ground every few seconds ---> let every fumble ( and we all fumble ) ---> let every fumble flow into an amazing recovery

This is how you qualify for flying in stronger air - its not 100% guaranteed but it's about as good as it gets. Some maneuvers training, some good navigation ( staying out of the lee ), some good sensibility about what kind of conditions are flyable and a solid team might make your odds of staying off the side of the hill a lot better.

Distracted Flight Initiation

An experienced pilot with many years flying but flying less than 100 hours per year currently and flying an EN B glider suffered a fatality falling from the harness due to unfastened leg straps.  

The accident category was "Distracted pre-flight preparation and checks."  Witness accounts describe the pilot having difficulty with a spot locator beacon, radio, and oxygen system.  For this flight four new or unfamiliar factors were present.  1 new site, 2 new oxygen system, 3 new locator beacon, 4 unfamiliar radio.  

It is recommended practice to fly with only one new factor per flight.  In this case, the site alone was significantly more advanced than sites the pilot was familiar with to be a major distraction.   Adding on the other three factors could very well have been overwhelming.  

Not hooking in or up is a potential killer.  Recommendations to combat this potential hazard include buddy checks, even a quick “did you pre-flight,” as a pilot walks to launch could be a life saver.  If your harness easily allows you to hook up the chest strap without hooking the leg straps, an up grade to a new harness could save your life.  If you have not done the work to visualize the terror of launching and attaining a few hundred feet AGL supported by the chest strap and then falling out of the harness as you sit back, doing so could trigger your memory to complete a thorough pre flight.

5 things about this phenomenon:

1) pre flight is super important
2) buddy checks used to be a thing and should be revived, they can save the day
3) there is a thing called a killer pre- flight in which you glance at your biners, leg straps, risers and reserve as you are launching to make sure that the first pre flight really worked
4) forgotten leg strap protocol is essential information - practice this technique in a simulator, most pilots fail to execute on their first practice but always execute successfully from then on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2-UCZ-lplo
5) this can happen to any pilot on any day

Thermic Scratching

Early in the Summer a very experienced and very current pilot flying an EN B glider close to the ground suffered a cascading collapse resulting in impact with the ground and serious back injuries requiring surgery.  Weather conditions were within conservative parameters.

This accident falls in the risk category of "Thermic Scratching".  Thermic scratching is a risk frequently taken by many pilots without accident or injury.  The risk is caused by the unpredictable nature of the wind to change direction caused even by interaction with the terrain causing rotor or other strong turbulence near the ground.  This type of turbulence may only set up for a few minutes a handful of times in a full day or be present for hours and only in one specific spot.

PG XC Lee Side Low Deflation Injury Summer 2019

A highly experienced pilot who was very familiar with the area suffered a low deflation in a lee side area while thermalling. He suffered a back injury but is making a full recovery. We are reminded that it is possible to do things like thermalling in the lee - ongoing for years and years - without event but it doesn't mean that it is a good idea and that it won't ever be a problem. If it seems dodgy it is dodgy.

HG Accident Summer 2019

A hang gliding student on a flight from the half way point on the South Side became characteristically  unresponsive mid flight and flew back at the hill. The injuries proved fatal. There were a number of potential contributing factors. The true cause of the event may remain unknown.

Winter Blowback 2019

A self trained pilot decided to hike to the top of the north side in a blown out condition (post frontal, nobody flying) with no reserve, speed bar or back protection. He blew back almost immediately and suffered a back injury. Thankfully, the pilot was released from the hospital the next day. If there is nobody flying, there is usually a good reason.

Mini Wing South Side Circle Injury early Summer 2019

A highly experienced pilot/ mini wing pilot made a last minute decision to do a circle/ barrel roll at the south side.  The pilot was not very high. Mini wing circles have been a huge source of accidents over the years. Pilots who have not done them before are cautioned that this maneuver can be easily mis managed. Pilots over brake during the turn and sometimes cause a spin event. Pilots also under brake and fail to finish the turn. It should be noted that even if a pilot does a hard turn at the beginning of a circle, a soft finish to the circle can result in tremendous altitude loss. Most damning of all is the last minute 360 meaning a 360 executed without forethought. This remains a high risk even decades into a pilots flying career. The pilot in this event suffered long term paralysis.