Incident Details

On November 7, 2023, a PPG pilot went for his second flight of the day. In the morning, he had flown for 1 hour in winds about 9 MPH with light gusts. After his morning flight, the pilot decided to go on a second flight as his mother came to watch him fly. The pilot did not realize that conditions had changed significantly - winds were now 15 MPH gusting to 30 MPH, and at mid-day (10:40 AM) thermal activity had picked up. Upon take-off, the pilot reached an altitude of about 200 feet and realized the conditions were too rough. He came around to land, but on his landing approach a strong gust of wind caused the wing to collapse and rapidly lose altitude. Before being able to recover the collapsed wing, the pilot hit the ground in a harvested bean field. The pilot suffered a fatal head injury along with severe fractures of his lower extremities.

Primary cause was pilot decision to fly in conditions that had deteriorated significantly from the morning flight, with winds now gusting to 30 MPH and increased thermal activity at midday. The pilot failed to properly assess current conditions before launching. A 30 MPH wind gust during landing approach caused wing collapse at approximately 200 feet altitude. The low altitude left insufficient time to recover from the collapse before ground impact.

Fatal head injury and severe fractures of lower extremities

42 years old, 240 lbs, male, student in training, 65 flights with about 50 hours total flight time

13.4 m/s

15 MPH gusting to 30 MPH

Strong gusty winds with thermal activity at midday. Conditions had deteriorated significantly from morning flight (9 MPH light gusts to 15 MPH gusting 30 MPH)

Midday thermal activity had picked up

30MPH wind Gust causes wing to collapse at 200 feet – causing PPG pilot to impact ground PPG Type: Foot Launch – Single Occupant Type of Injury: Fatality Pilot Details Age: 42 Weight: 240 Gender: Male Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Student in Training Pilot experience level: 50+ hours Gear Details Wing Brand: BGD Model: Blizzard Size: 26m Paramotor Frame: Parajet MavMax with Vittorazi Moster 185 Incident Details November 7, 2023 10:43 AM Location of the incident: Forsyth, Illinois Type of Incident: Collision with terrain or ground obstacle, Pilot Error, Gusty wind conditions A PPG pilot with 65 flights and about 50 hours of flight time went for a flight on November 7, 2023. In the morning, the pilot flew for 1 hour in winds about 9MPH with light gusts. After his morning flight, the pilot decided to go on a second flight as his mother came to watch him fly. Unfortunately, the pilot did not realize that the conditions had changed, winds were now 15 MPH and gusting to 30 MPH – and at mid-day (10:40AM) the thermal activity had picked up as well. Upon take-off, the pilot reached an altitude of about 200 feet and realized the conditions were too rough and came around to land, on his landing a strong gust of wind caused the wing to collapse and rapidly lose altitude. Before being able to recover the collapsed wing, the pilot hit the ground in a harvested bean field. The pilot suffered a fatal head injury along with severe fractures of his lower extremities. Flight Window: Midday Wind Speed: Very Strong Wind (15+ mph) Type: Gusty / Thermal Activity / Dust Devil Phase of Flight: Landing Type of Injury: Fatality Collateral Damage: None