Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier than air aircraft called a hang glider.
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Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered with synthetic sailcloth to form a wing. Typically, the pilot is in a harness suspended from the airframe and controls the aircraft by shifting body weight in opposite to a control frame.
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Image Credit: Troy Pope
How common are hang gliding accidents?
Experts have indicated the chance of dying in a hang gliding incident is about one in 116,000 flights. That makes it riskier than scuba diving and much more so than driving a car.
How many hang gliding accidents per year?
Although hang gliding fatalities average around three per year according to USHPA statistics, the especially high accident rates just a few years after the USHPA increased access to the statistics intensified the national conversation among hang glider pilots about safety, bringing even more attention to it.
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