SAFA Skysailor Magazine

36 SKY SAILOR July | August 2022 They made a wide turn at the end of the beat up-ridge, lost height and tightened their turn to the point that they now faced the ridge, head-on. With little room to correct, PIC aimed for a tree and braced for impact. Their left wingtip snagged the tree and they were plucked from the air, landing gently on their feet, but somewhat shaken. The wing was damaged in the extraction. AIRS #1662 – PG tree landing at Flinders Golf Course 25-2-2022 A low-hours PIC was flying their paraglider at Flinders Golf Course (Vic), in light conditions with the wind crossed from the west. To maintain altitude, they decided to fly behind an infamous dead tree and encountered sink. This caused the wing to drop, and a line became tangled with the tree. The wing was flipped into the tree and PIC ended with their feet on the ground. A stabilo line was broken. Quite a collection! Let’s unpack some of the details covered in these. First-up, although all of these reports involve paraglider pilots, these types of events can occur to all types of aircraft. Just because there are no reports involving hang glider pilots does not mean that it can’t happen to them. Next, when on the ground, even before you take to the air, make sure that your equipment is ready to go with lines clear and harnesses secured. Just as important is to make sure you are good to go in yourself. If you are fatigued and conditions are on the stronger side, recon- sider the decision to take to the air. It’s better to conduct these checks on the ground than find out in the air that you have a problem. Once in the air, it is vitally important to keep scanning ahead visually and to plan ahead in your mind what you will do if something unexpected happens. This is as true for experi- enced pilots as it is for those starting out. The danger for new pilots is that you are just not aware of what will happen if you lose lift, or if conditions change. You need to always have running in the back of your mind what I call the ‘What if’ game. What if I lose lift here, or further ahead where I am going? What is the closest safe landing area? What hazards are around me? What will stop me making it to a safe landing? For more experienced pilots, the danger is complacency. We’ve been scratching low before, we know what our wings are capable of, we know where to get lift at this site in these conditions. Which works well until it doesn’t. Again, running ‘What if?’ could help you by not letting you cut the risk curve too fine. If you’re dealing with a sudden collapse or turbulence, you really need as much altitude and clear air as possible to deal with the problem. Putting yourself in close proximity to the terrain will drastically reduce the time you have to resolve the matter. Always be aware of where your wing tips are. These can snag vegetation that may be projecting from the hill. This is especially the case for those times when you are flying alongside cliff faces or steep terrain. Also, if you do suddenly lose lift, the more obvious snag point will be the harness. AIRS Safety Wrap-up