Return to the incident list: Incident List Hit vehicle in landing zone PPG Type: Type of Injury:

Pilot Details

Age: 44 Weight: 205 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: Size: Paramotor Frame: with

Incident Details

January 7, 2009 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

Conditions were ideal. I did a normal preflight, laid out my wing and warmed up my motor. I had difficulty with forward launches and planned to do numerous forward launch flights and practice landings. There was just enough wind to reverse launch which I felt very comfortable with and considered doing to get some quick flights and landings in but I decided to work on the forward launch. I clipped in forward and pulled my wing up. It went up very nice and I think I finally got the technique down after lots of ground handling practice in the park. I looked up, the wing was up and straight, It felt good and I throttled up. As soon as I left the ground, I knew something was wrong with my left riser. I was climbing out nicely and I looked at my L riser and realized it was twisted 360. I was clearly pulling slightly left but my L brake line was not affected and worked properly. So, my very first thought was to go throttle off and land immediately but when I realized I had near normal control I decided to stay low and go around the pattern and land back at my LZ. As I turned on final I guess I was thinking more about my problem and I realized I was nearly lined up on my truck which was the only thing in the middle of this 10 acre LZ. I thought I was offset enough and in a desire to land and correct my hook in I committed to my approach. I killed my motor about 50 feet off and continued in. I was uncomfortable with my closeness to my truck and gave a bit of right brake but backed off to be straight on the final. I guess because of the twist I continued to pull left and 10 feet off I knew I was going to hit the side of my truck (there might have been a bit of pendulum from my steering input also). I tried to flare and guarded with my legs but I did hit it and made a sizable dent on the glancing impact. I ended up on my but fairly gently with a pain in my L ankle. I sat there a minute doing a physical survey and with only ankle pain, I unclipped and stood up. There was no apparent damage to my paramotor as far as I can tell. It appears that only my truck and my ankle are damaged (and pride). So what did I hopefully learn? 1. It is absolutely critical that you take off with risers connected properly. I will always look at my hook in 3 times before I launch. I think it’s also important to establish a good routine and always use it. I have about 30 flights and probably had some intermediate pilot syndrome. 2. In an emergency, land with all possible precaution and clearance from obstructions. I think I focused on my windsock as my safety point and without thinking, I lined up on it and ended up hitting it. 3. In the future, I plan to pick and spot at least 75′ from any obstruction for my landing spot. I think I tended to land close to my car so I would not have to walk far. That practice bit me in the rear end. Landing clear of any obstacle needs to be the habit and the norm so I do it in a crisis. I am embarrassed by this and hope it helps some pilot some day.

Flight Window: Wind Speed: Type: Phase of Flight: Type of Injury: Collateral Damage: Analysis of the incident (additional input by the incident investigation team): Photos (if available):

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