Incident Details

Pilot went to Boca Grande Island with family for a picnic. Despite recognizing the wind coming from inland as problematic, he made the decision to fly. After two bad inflations with small rotors, he took off. Immediately felt strong pressure from inland winds and had to turn south (right) to minimize turbulence and avoid power lines. During flight, heard a different noise from the motor (later found broken propeller). Gained some altitude heading to the sea but turbulence continued and inland winds pushed him towards the ocean. Tried to point back to the sand but had difficulty controlling the wing. After passing the last person on the beach at about 10-15ft altitude, was dragged down like a rock with no time to pull brakes, switch off engine, or finish landing position. Crash-landed hard on the beach.

Primary cause was pilot's bad decision to fly despite recognizing inland wind conditions. Contributing factors included turbulent conditions with rotor from inland wind, and possible engine/propeller failure during flight. Low altitude during landing approach left no margin for recovery.

Sprained ankle with huge pain and swelling in left foot. No broken bones. Required paramedic transport to hospital and several weeks unable to fly.

Age: 38, Weight: 184 lbs, Gender: Male

Bad decision on January 1st Incident Details: January 8, 2009 Location: Boca Grande Island Pilot: Age 38, Weight 184, Male Gear: Wing - MacPara Eden 3, Paramotor Frame - FB Simo 122 I went to Boca Grande Island (such a beautiful place) to picnic with my family. It was an amazing day on the beach and the desire to fly was bigger than me (first error), even with wind coming from inland (the preannounce of problems) I took the decision to take-off after spending time thinking about it (the MAIN error). After 2 bad inflations (some small rotors), I took off. At this same moment I felt the big pressure coming from inland and I had to turn south (right) in order to minimize the turbulence and avoid the power lines. Something wrong happened because I started to hear a "different noise" coming from the motor (I couldn't figured out yet what happened). I gained a little altitude heading to the sea but it was still turbulent and the inland winds pushed me towards the ocean, I pointed back to the sand (it was very hard to control the wing) but I had to pass the people near the water. After I passed the last person (I was about 10-15ft high) I was just dragged down (no time to pull the breaks, switched off the engine or even finish my landing position in the chair) like a rock. A huge pain in my left foot (plus swelling) indicates a problem. People on the beach (plus my family) helped me to take care of my equipment (a broken propeller, some cage strings and, who else knows what more). Paramedics took me to the nearest hospital. Around 2 hours later, the information that I was very lucky (no break bones): sprained ankle, few weeks not able to fly. Anyways, lots of learnings from the mistakes and an advice to other pilots: NEVER FLY WITH WIND COMING FROM INLAND!!!