Incident Details

Pilot launched in what appeared to be light gusty conditions. Shortly after takeoff and during a right turn, the wing began dancing around significantly. The pilot turned downwind to get away from the mountain, suspecting rotor turbulence. Despite active piloting and weight shifting, the wing continued to move aggressively. The pilot took a significant hit that made the wing drop back, which he caught from shooting forward. Shortly after, a violent asymmetric collapse occurred. The pilot reacted with left weight shift to prevent spinning, applied brake inputs, and pumped the brakes a couple times as the wing wasn't recovering on its own. The collapse was violent enough that the risers hit the back of the paramotor cage. After recovery, the pilot immediately landed in a field below. The landing was uneventful despite continued wing movement.

Primary cause was flying in gusty conditions that developed near sunset. Pilot acknowledged checking the forecast early in the day when conditions looked good, but failed to check the updated forecast before the evening flight which showed increasing gusts near sunset. Possible rotor turbulence from nearby mountain also contributed. The collapse was triggered by wind gusts and turbulent air.

Light gusts initially, became gusty near sunset and continued to worsen after landing

Initially appeared calm with light gusts, conditions deteriorated near sunset with increasing wind gusts

Video title: Footage Leading Up to My Paramotor Wing Collapse Uploader: Moto Fly Guy Upload date: December 8, 2025 Description: Took a pretty good collapse on my Freeride 2. 100% my fault for not looking more in depth to the evenings forecast. Conditions were good all day. Looked at the forecast early and everything looked good for the evening. If I would have checked again before the flight I would have seen that it was supposed to get gusty near sunset. And it sure did. And after landing it continued to get worse. Pilot's narrative from video: - Light gusts on the ground, wind sock just fluttering - Easy launch and climb out - During right turn, wing started dancing around - Riser shaking visible - Turned downwind to get away from mountain, thinking rotor turbulence - Wing continued dancing around, pilot not too bothered initially - Active piloting and weight shifting to stay ahead of wing - Took a pretty good hit where wing dropped back, pilot caught it from shooting forward - This made pilot decide to turn around and head back - Shortly after, experienced violent collapse - Pilot was already weight shifting left when collapse occurred - Right hand came down to try to stop collapse, couldn't stop it - Left hand came down to prevent spin, maintained left weight shift - Couple pumps on brakes because wing wasn't coming back out on its own - Collapse was violent enough that risers hit the back of the cage - After recovery, decided to land immediately - Landed in field right below, uneventful landing - Wing still dancing around during landing approach - Pilot advises checking detailed forecast before flying to prevent similar incidents