Is Paragliding Safe ?

Paragliding, like other adventure sports such as rock climbing or mountaineering, is as safe or as dangerous as you make it. If you get proper training, fly conservative equipment, stay aware of your limitations and are cautious about the conditions you choose to launch in, it becomes very benign. The more ambitious a pilot is in any of these areas, the more risks are possible, but highly skilled pilots can do a lot of things safely while always operating within their limitations.

A big part of learning any of these sports is making it safely through the learning period when you don't realize how much you still don't know. It's common to see relatively new pilots eager to launch their paragliders while other pilots with thousands of flight hours are waiting patiently on the ground for the conditions to change in some way. It's very valuable when you are learning to observe what the experienced pilots are doing, ask them about it, and take their answers seriously even if you don't understand them yet.

Although paragliding is classified as a high-risk sport, technological advances in the design of paraglider canopies have significantly reduced the number of recorded incidents since the pioneering days of the 1980s. On average there are between one and three fatalities a year in Great Britain , or slightly less than 1 fatality per 1,000 pilots in the United States. Though many fatalities involve more experienced pilots using faster, high-performance wings that are less stable in the air, less experienced pilots flying more stable wings are not immune. The most common minor injuries are twisted ankles and back injuries sustained during take-off and landing.

Ninety percent of all injuries occur in the first 10 flights and are, typically, to the lower leg. Once a pilot has achieved a full license (after 40 to 60 high-altitude flights) the injury rate drops significantly until 500 to 1000 flights have been completed. Then the injury rate spikes again and, typically, the injuries are very serious or fatal.

Trained Pilots often take a safety course where they cause a collapses of the wing on purpose to train for the event this happens accidentally. Usually these safety trainings are taken while in very high altitude or over a lake, while keeping radio contact with a trained instructor. In some countries, such trainings are needed to obtain higher-level certificates.

In the early years harnesses were made of a simple parachutist harness, possibly with a wooden board to make the flight easier on the legs, but now safety measures such as back-protectors made of thick impact absorbing foam are commonplace. Like helmets or other protective gear, there are limits to the strength of impact that can safely be absorbed by a foam back protector in a paragliding harness.

Another safety measure adopted by paragliding pilots is the use of a reserve parachute. A reserve can be deployed in extreme circumstances such as when the wing collapses and becomes knotted into itself without hope of recovery. Fortunately such events are rare. On most modern wings a partial collapse at high altitude is no big deal. The glider will recover quickly with gentle pumping on the brakes, losing little altitude.

Learning to Fly

A beginner should learn from a fully-qualified instructor. Paragliding is aviation, and pioneers in aviation have always had high fatality rates. You don't want to be a pioneer. Teaching yourself is extremely dangerous.

One of the nine fatalities in the United States in 2003 was a self-taught pilot attempting to fly in high winds by tethering to a fixed object on the ground. A bystander was also seriously injured in this accident. Fixed-rope towing and tethering with fixed ropes to objects is extremely dangerous and has resulted in several other serious injuries and fatalities. Training is essential in any form of aviation. Pilots should not sell used equipment to people who do not have proper training.

Safe towing requires a weak link, a proper tow device and training for both the pilot and the tow operator.

World Records

The current (as of January 2005) world distance record was set by Canadian William Gadd on 21 June 2002 who flew 423.4 km (in 10½ hours) from the town of Zapata, Texas, United States.

The height gain record was set by Robbie Whittall from the UK who flew 4,526 m above takeoff on 6 January 1993 from Brandvlei, South Africa.