About Powered Paragliding Safety

Is Powered Paragliding safe?

Statistics suggest Powered Paragliding is much safer than motorcycle riding and many other sports you may consider participating in, but do your own research to decide if PPG represents an acceptable risk for you personally.

The primary reasons for the Powered Paraglider’s excellent safety record is their low speed and inherent stability. Slow speeds for launch, approach and landing (the pilot “runs” into the air at about 10 mph and lands around the same speed). In addition, power is only used to gain altitude and is NOT required for a safe landing. In fact, many pilots shut off their motors before landing.

It is probably the safest form of private aviation ever devised, It is safer than flying in small planes or riding motorcycles but not as safe as driving a car. One reason for the good safety record is that most problems will prevent the pilot from successfully taking off.

Below are statistics from the USHPA for Free-Flight Paragliding (without paramotor) fatalities reported up to 2005. Powered Paragliding fatalities are reported to be approx half the number of free-flight fatalities.

The above graph shows the highest year for Free-Flight Paragliding fatalities was 9 deaths in 2003, which represented a death rate of 2 pilots for every 1000 pilot members of the USHPA (formerly USHGA). The average fatality rate per 1000 USHGA members over the past 15 years of data collection is 1.33 The good news is that not only is this a VERY small percentage of deaths (0.2%), but the fatality percentage is going down over time, as equipment becomes safer, and training becomes better. Powered Paragliding statistics suggest a death rate of approx half that of free flight Paragliding, and much lower than Motorcycle riding.

Like other adventure sports, it's as safe or dangerous as you choose to make it. Powered Paragliding has a very good safety record amongst pilots that have been properly trained by a professional. It is of course crucial that you receive instruction from a certified professional and use safe equipment.

Paragliding is an outdoor sport and the weather is unpredictable. A thorough understanding of the air, and the dynamics of flight makes a trained pilot much safer than an untrained pilot. The primary safety factors are personal judgment and attitude. You must be willing to learn incrementally and to think with your head not with your ego. If you do not, then you can get injured or killed; if you do, then you can paraglide well into later life.

There is currently no formal record keeping for PPG accidents, except the informal incident database maintained by USPPA. There are approximately 4000 PPG pilots in the USA as of 2006, and the number is growing rapidly.

The most common major injuries sustained in Powered Paragliding are the result of body contact with a spinning propeller. These injuries take place on the ground, and can be easily avoided with careful checking of throttle cables and carburetors, and bracing the motor correctly before attempting to start it. The second highest cause of major injuries is receiving inadequate, or worse, no professional training - resulting in "Pilot Error" incidents. To significantly reduce your risk of serious injury or death, always seek professional training from certified instructors, with a comprehensive syllabus, training you for the types of site(s) you intend to fly from. Your life is not worth the savings by trying to do it yourself, or do it on the cheap. Also, damaging your equipment because you weren't correctly trained is likely to cost you much more than Professional Training costs.

Avoid "instructors" without formal certification. A certified instructor has made significant commitment to their own training and skill development, and has been tested to attain certification.

Be wary of Schools offering fixed position & turnaround winch tow instruction. As a beginner pilot, never get towed more than 10 feet from the ground, and a moving tow vehicle is the safest method. Winch towing shows a disproportionately high death rate. Quotes below from Jeff Goin, President USPPA courtesy footflyer.com :

"Towing is incredibly risky. Not that motor flying is a walk in the park but towing LOOKS so benign and it's not. The most telling comment came from an experienced tow operator after a fatal crash: he was amazed at how quickly it went from a normal tow to out of control. There have been many other lesser crashes." further, "A turn-around pulley adds enormous risk and should be only be used for low tows (less than 10 feet) or by experienced pilots clearly briefed on various emergency scenarios." 

Please feel free to contact us and discuss any safety concerns you may have about Powered Paragliding.