Sports and recreation
Hang gliding
Estimated population-level acute risk associated with recreational hang gliding.
Base risk estimate
8 micromorts per hours
Population-level estimate. Not a personal prediction.
Assumptions
Assumes recreational hang gliding by a licensed USHPA pilot under suitable flying conditions on a standard flexible or rigid-wing glider.
Limitations
National pilot-hours exposure is estimated from USHPA membership counts and average flight time, not directly measured. Risk varies by wing type (flexible vs rigid), pilot experience, site conditions, and weather. The Wilkes WEM paragliding methodology has not been formally applied to USHPA hang gliding data in peer-reviewed literature.
Source notes
Based on USHPA annual fatality statistics (~5–10 US hang gliding fatalities per year) and estimated national pilot exposure (~15,000–20,000 active USHPA hang gliding pilots × ~40 flying hours/year = ~600,000–800,000 hours/year). Derived rate ~8–12 per million flying hours = ~8–12 micromorts/hour; 8 micromorts used as a central estimate. Methodology follows Wilkes M et al. (Wilderness Environ Med. 2022;33(1):28–35), which quantified paragliding risk per flying hour using analogous BHPA data.
Last reviewed
5/31/2024