I’m writing this tardy Safety report at the beginning of October.  As usual, August was a busy month with pilots dispersing far and wide in the U.S. and beyond.  I hope everyone accumulated great flying adventures inn the late summer.  These experiences can be hauled out and relived in the approaching slow period of November and December before the winter storms come and we get into pre- and post-frontal flying.

There are a few incidents and accidents that I am aware of in August and September.  In August shortly after the blowback at Westlake that resulted in a garage door being damaged, another pilot got blown back at Mussel Rock.  The day was good, slightly on the strong side but not unmanageable.  The pilot had been flying off and on for a few hours.  Toward the end of the day the pilot relaunched and got up around the top of the Westlake cliff.  There was a ground launcher setting up at the corner of Westlake.  The paraglider pilot went over the top and apparently landed between two houses.  The police arrived on the scene but the pilot was not, apparently, injured.  We originally heard about the incident when the ground launcher called a BAPA member to alert him.

This incident seemed avoidable – when the wind gradient is strong pilots should stay low and out in front.  If conditions are strong, it’s safest to control altitude by staying out at the front of the lift band and making turns or using Big Ears.  The pilot involved in this incident is a self-taught, unrated pilot.

A second incident involved a ground launcher who broke his femur upon landing.  The ground launcher is an experienced skydiver, base jumper and ground launcher.  He said he was trying a new landing method that involved at least two new techniques.  The ground launcher came in too fast and could not complete his intended turn.  He severely broke his leg and later had complications in his recovery.

The ground launcher and a fisherman tried to call 911 from the beach but the cell phone reception was bad.  When the ground launcher finally got through, he was put on hold for 15 minutes.  This was because 911 calls from cell phones go to the CHP first and then get routed to the appropriate emergency services.  15 minutes is a long time when you are injured!  Please carry a cell phone and program in the Daly City Fire department direct number – 650-992-2313 for emergency calls.

In a third incident, a P2 pilot misjudged his glide back to the bottom road at Mussel Rock.  The pilot was sinking out and thought he could glide back to the road to land.  However, at the last minute he decided he did not have enough altitude so he turned out, planning to turn back to land on the beach.  However, the pilot was too low and before completing his turn, he landed in the ocean.  A witness said the pilot was in about knee-deep water.  The pilot was able to unhook from his gear.  In a short while the witness landed and helped the pilot pull his wing out of the water.  The witness said they had their hook knives in hand in case they became tangled in the lines.  While they were successful in retrieving the wing in this instance, it can be very dangerous trying to pull a wing out of the ocean because of the waves and the likelihood of getting tangled in the lines.  Anyone attempting to retrieve a wing should be ready to abandon the effort if necessary.

Those are the accidents and incidents that I know of in August and September at Bay Area sites.  I hope that everyone has a great Fall and that we continue to build a strong flying community.