FreeX Arcane, None, 2 September 2007

109 © Crown copyright 2008 AAIB Bulletin: 6/2008 None EW/C2007/09/01 ACCIDENT Aircraft Type and Registration: FreeX Arcane, no registration No & Type of Engines: None Year of Manufacture: Not known Date & Time (UTC): 2 September 2007 at about 1048 hrs (all other times in this report are local times) Location: Near Woldingham, Surrey Type of Flight: Private Persons on Board: Crew - 1 Passengers - None Injuries: Crew - 1 (Fatal) Passengers - N/A Nature of Damage: None Commander’s Licence: BHPA Pilot (Hill and Tow) Rated Commander’s Age: 47 years Commander’s Flying Experience: Approx 140 hours (hours on type not known) Last 90 days - Approx 15 hours Last 28 days - Approx 9 hours Information Source: AAIB Field Investigation Synopsis The paraglider was seen to suffer an asymmetric collapse of its canopy when at a height of about 70 ft. It descended rapidly and the pilot was unable to recover to normal flight or deploy the emergency parachute before impacting the ground. He landed heavily, chest first, which resulted in fatal injuries. History of the flight On the morning of the accident, the pilot arrived at the launch site where other qualified paraglider pilots were already flying. A group of student pilots were flying under instruction from the Chief Instructor of a flying school which operated from the site. The wind had been light early in the morning but had increased in speed, as forecast, so that by about 1030 hrs it was between 16-18 mph. The Chief Instructor assessed that these conditions were unsuitable for the students to continue and had therefore ceased instructing. The students prepared to leave, and spent about an hour packing up their equipment, whilst the qualified pilots continued to fly from the hill. At one point, one of these pilots suffered a symmetric collapse of his canopy whilst at a height of about 200 ft, but he was able to recover the situation quickly with only minimal height loss. The weather conditions continued to become increasingly difficult for flying and some of the less experienced pilots decided to land. Other pilots, however, remained airborne. 110 © Crown copyright 2008 AAIB Bulletin: 6/2008 None EW/C2007/09/01 Witnesses describe seeing one of these pilots, at a height of about 70 ft directly above the launch point at the top of the hill, facing into the wind and away from the slope. They estimated he had been airborne for only a minute or two when approximately 60-70% of the left side of his canopy was seen to fold back with the folded back section remaining rigid. The whole canopy turned rapidly to the left, rotating the pilot with it, and began to descend quickly. The pilot, who had now been rotated through about 180° so that he faced the slope, struck the ground just below the top of hill. He was then lifted again a short distance, coming to rest on the hilltop where the canopy collapsed. First aid was quickly administered to the pilot by those on the site until the arrival of the first paramedic at 1155 hrs. Further treatment was rendered at the scene, before he was transferred to hospital by air ambulance. He later died from his injuries. Weather Witnesses at the launch site reported that the weather during the morning had initially been good. The wind was westerly and, early in the morning, had been light to moderate in strength, between 8-12 mph, although from about 1030 hrs, it had started to increase to about 16‑18 mph. The airflow was initially smooth but, as the morning progressed, cumulus cloud started to build, indicating a measure of thermal activity, which would have potentially given rise to more turbulent conditions. Recorded information A Garmin GPSmap 76C GPS receiver and a Digifly VL100 Flyer Unit variometer were recovered from the accident site. GPSmap 76C GPS Receiver The GPS receiver had recorded the GPS position and altitude for two tracks, both on 2 September 2007, the total time span of which was from 1153 hrs to 1157 hrs. These were separated by a seven second period, indicating that they were two parts of the same track and that the unit had either lost GPS signals or that the track had been manually stopped and restarted. The sporadic nature of the GPS positions recorded, within short spaces of time, indicates that the receiver was not generating accurate position or altitude fixes. Accordingly, no reliable analysis could be drawn from this data. Digifly VL100 Flyer Variometer The date set on this unit was correct but the time set was 8 minutes behind local time (established on 25 September 2007). The unit recorded two flights on 2 September 2007. The first flight recorded started at 1051 hrs local (corrected time) and lasted approximately 3 minutes, the second started at 1112 hrs (corrected time) and lasted for approximately two minutes. The times of the flights recorded on both the GPS receiver and variometer could not be correlated with the time of the accident, as recorded on the emergency services log. It has, therefore, not been possible to ascertain whether any of the information recorded relates to the accident flight or to previous flights that were conducted that morning. Launch site description The launch site being used that day was called the West Bowl, and was a slope of moderate incline forming, as the name implies, one side of a bowl, the top of which was about 200 ft above the local terrain. The slope used was on the Bowl’s northern edge and allowed paragliders to be launched up its entire slope, with the more experienced pilots launching from the ridge on top. 111 © Crown copyright 2008 AAIB Bulletin: 6/2008 None EW/C2007/09/01 The flying school’s site guide describes the best wind directions for operating as south-west and west. Under a section entitled ‘Flying History’ the guide states: ‘it can be rough, please obey the rules!’ The Chief Instructor at the school stated that this comment related to turbulence and the importance of applying the usual principles in assessing the suitability of the weather for flying. He also stated that the worst wind direction for the site was from the south- southwest, with turbulence likely due to the topography on the opposite side of the bowl. Another section in the site guide entitled ‘ Hazards’ warns pilots to keep a good lookout for horses that are sometimes ridden in the area; it does not list any other hazards. Paraglider description The pilot was flying a FreeX Arcane. This type of paraglider has been assessed under the German classification system and classed as a DHV2 paraglider. The British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA) Pilot Handbook describes this class of paraglider as: ‘Paragliders with demanding characteristics and potentially dynamic reactions to turbulence and pilot errors. For pilots who fly regularly. (Recommended minimum: BHPA Pilot rating)’ Paraglider examination The paraglider was inspected after the accident and the canopy was found to be undamaged. The rigging lines had all been cut in order to free the pilot after the accident, but they otherwise appeared to be in a satisfactory condition with no signs of fraying or knots having come undone. The straps forming the harness also appeared in good condition but, because they too had been cut after the accident, it was not possible to ascertain whether they had been correctly adjusted to fit the pilot. An emergency parachute was fitted to the paraglider but there was no evidence of the pilot having made any attempt to use it. Pilot’s flying experience The pilot started paragliding in 1997, and qualified as a BHPA Elementary Pilot in May 1998, a Club Pilot in October 1998 and as a Pilot (Hill) in June 2004. He had embarked on training to become an instructor and had also flown in various competitions. He flew regularly and was considered suitably experienced and capable to be flying a DHV2 category paraglider. BHPA training at all levels includes the

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FreeX Arcane, None, 2 September 2007

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