This case involved a collision between RG and a fellow competitor, the defendant, during a hang gliding competition in France. The case of RG – mid-air collision during a hang gliding competition, resolved through ADR
#Hang glider accident trial
Early hang glider pilots learned their sport through trial and error with gliders which were sometimes home-built. However, advances in pilot training and glider construction have led to a much-improved safety record, and accident rates have decreased significantly.
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Paragliders may also be motorised through the pilot wearing a motor propeller under the paraglider wing.ĭue to the poor safety record of early hang gliding, the sport has traditionally been considered unsafe. In paragliding, the pilot sits in a harness suspended below the wing. Paragliding differs from hang gliding as the structure is supple. Hang gliding is one of several ‘air sports’ that has grown over recent years, along with paragliding and sky diving. The number of people now engaged in the sport is at an all-time high. As a result of this and the increased availability of flexible-wing hang gliders, interest in hang gliding has soared in the UK since the 1980s. The design of early hang gliders meant pilots were restricted to gliding down small hills, but functionality began to improve significantly during the 1970s which lead to pilots being able to fly for hours and over much longer distances.
![hang glider accident hang glider accident](https://townsquare.media/site/669/files/2014/09/88757455.jpg)
Hang gliders can also be motorised by using a specially designed harness with an engine attached (known as powered hang gliding). Hang gliding is a recreational activity in which a pilot utilises unpowered flying apparatus consisting of a rigid frame with a stretched fabric aerofoil over the top to form a wing. In this article, Aviation partner Sarah Stewart and paralegal Dani Tselentakis give a brief history of glider sports and examine a couple of recent cases. Our Aviation team has recently represented the victims of hang gliding accidents, including a highly-contested claim for a client with life-changing injuries caused by a mid-air collision during a competition.