Incident Details

After waiting for a rain shower to pass, pilot went for a short flight in light wind. During flight, a gust front came through causing heavy turbulence and a 40% asymmetric collapse. Pilot landed safely and began kiting the wing with motor still on back but not running. While turned to talk to a friend who was also kiting, a very strong gust lifted the pilot up. The risers were only partially twisted, preventing control. Pilot was turned around and landed standing but facing forward. Another gust (or the same one) lifted the pilot up and back. Landing backwards, pilot fell back and nearly 'endo'd'. The wing dragged the pilot about 15 feet before regaining control. One radial arm of the motor was bent and knee was scraped.

Gust front associated with nearby storm systems (approximately 10 miles away, downwind) passed through the area. Pilot misjudged the weather threat based on visual assessment and forecast, believing the oncoming mostly sunny weather would not be a factor. Ground handling with motor still on back in strong, gusty wind conditions.

Scraped knee

Light wind at launch, rain shower had recently passed, storms approximately 10 miles away downwind, gust front passage with very strong gusts, mostly sunny oncoming weather

Return to the incident list: Incident List Fall (Ground Handling Fall, Dragged) PPG Type: Type of Injury: Pilot Details Age: 0 Weight: 150 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level: Gear Details Wing Brand: Model: N/A Size: Paramotor Frame: N/A with Incident Details January 1, 2006 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident: After letting a rain shower go by and clearing out a bit I went for a flight. The wind was light at launch and during the short flight a gust front came through which I felt in the air as heavy turbulence. My wing took a 40% collapse and I decided to call it quits. After landing I was kiting the wing in a now strong wind with the motor still on my back but not running. At one point I turned to kite towards a friend (also kiting but in a harness) who I was talking to when a very strong gust came through and picked me up (him too). Since the risers were only partially twisted I could not prevent getting turned around and wound up standing back on the ground but facing forward. Before I could swing around, another gust (or probably the same one) picked me up and back. When I landed going backwards I fell back and nearly “endo’d”. The wing dragged me about 15 feet before I get turned around to control it. One of the radial arms of the motor was bent and my knee got scraped up but thankfully there was no other damage. The weather that passed looked pretty weird but there were no big changes forecast. There were storms in the area but nothing closer than about 10 miles and those were now well downwind of us. The oncoming weather was mostly sunny and so it looked and felt like it would not be a factor. Obviously a wider berth on weird weather is in order! The included photo is what the weather looked like about an hour before the flight. This was well downwind before getting blasted. Flight Window: Wind Speed: Type: Phase of Flight: Type of Injury: Collateral Damage: Analysis of the incident (additional input by the incident investigation team): Photos (if available): Video (if available): Return to the incident list: Incident List