Paraglider Towing Incident

The tow rope was across a small rise causing it to contract after leaving the ground, jerking the pilot forward into a full stall.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• paraglider
• crash
• pg
• tow
• stall

[GeoPG]

The pilot suffered a broken left tibia, compression fracture of vertebrae L1 & L2, broken left wrist, severely bruised heels, and several other minor aches and pains. He spent about a week in hospital and is making a full recovery.

[itripledareyaaa]

pilot induced. was hard on the brakes, looks like a newbie with his arms out wide...

[skysurferuk]

On launch, his hands were down at his hips. Pilot error. Hope he was OK to fly again...

[flyparagliding]

@wasatchmonk2  Also winch operator at fault.

He should have aborted the tow as the glide was close to the stall point.

[TONYPARAMOTOR]

@GeoPG THE REASON AFTER WATCHING PILOT CRASH .....WAS! HANDS TOO FAR DOWN.SHOULD OF BEEN UP AS FAR AS EARS.IF YOU WATCH WING IS TOO FAR DOWNWARDS .IF HE HELD HES HANDS UP THE WING WOULD COME UP AND ACCIDENT WOULD OF BEEN AVOIDED.BUT THE QUESTION THAT NEEDS TO BE ASKED.WHY DIDNT THE PILOT DO THIS?AND COULD HE USE A RADIO TO TALK TO INSTRUCTOR?OR JUST PILOT ERROR

[corellmekageme]

obviously the pilot was inexperienced and an instructor should have been there to abort the flight.

[FlyCindyBC]

@dirtshaman I am a female pilot and I think we all can do it eventually regardless male or female, don't you think ?

Best flights, Cynthia

[dirtshaman]

It was probably a female pilot.

[wasatchmonk2]

Hands up! He opened the angle of attack to9 such a steep point that he stalled the glider off launch. That was solely pilot induced

[lovehorrordotde]

Perfect example, what stalling a glider will cause on a start.

First thing we learnd was "hands up" for the start phase.

[liotcik]

how come such stupid pilot flies advanced glider, and controls it as a school one?

[vpaulg]

The problem is 2-fold. IMHO, the problem lies more with the pilot and the heavy brakes. Airspeed should be the pilots primary concern. The tow-tech should be looking for an easy climb at the start but there is an amount of brake the pilot can pull to stall the glider and the tech isn't part of that decision. I believe nearly zero brake on a tow launch makes a stall almost impossible due to over-tension. Add a speed assist tow bridle and this should never happen unless the pilot messes up.