Return to the incident list: Incident List 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 Analysis of the incident (additional input by the incident investigation team): Photos (if available):

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