US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

I got a call a few minutes ago and was told a pilot by the name of Bob Buxton had an accident while PL towing near Phoenix AZ . This is second and maybe third hand information. Or maybe I’m farther down the line than that even.
I was told that he had the towline over the base tube by mistake and he locked out and pounded in hard. He is still with us and hopefully will recover.
I looked on the members only USHPA board and see only one Robert Buxton with a long HG career but no PL sign off.
I can only recommend a check list be taped to the platform and that it be followed religiously. Good luck to you Bob.
Any details would be appreciated to aid me/us in not repeating this accident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2oeb0nNIKs
The cause of the accident is posted below the video by son Scott.
Thanks Scott and Bob B. This may well save pilots from the same accident.

This is hard to watch.
Who is the winch operator?

This happened early October and has been kept quiet till now?

billcummings wrote:I got a call a few minutes ago and was told a pilot by the name of Bob Buxton had an accident while PL towing near Phoenix AZ . This is second and maybe third hand information. Or maybe I’m farther down the line than that even.
I was told that he had the towline over the base tube by mistake and he locked out and pounded in hard. He is still with us and hopefully will recover.
I looked on the members only USHPA board and see only one Robert Buxton with a long HG career but no PL sign off.
I can only recommend a check list be taped to the platform and that it be followed religiously. Good luck to you Bob.
Any details would be appreciated to aid me/us in not repeating this accident.

Bob may try to take all the blame for this but that's not the way I see it.
Bob knew he was in trouble long before the 'safety' man in the truck knew it.
If he had a release that would have worked without taking his hands off the control bar, he could have saved himself. I can't imagine how long it must have seemed waiting for the safety man to cut him some slack...

Ok, I'm walking back my previous knee jerk comment. I regret and am sorry for pointing fingers of blame as it's now come out that these were build partners of a new system and the winch man wasn't any more experienced than Bob. I was reading into the story that Bob was getting instruction from an established operator. This was a horrible mistake and ultimately Bob the pic, paid the price. I wish him the best in recovery.
There, but for the grace of God, go I.

I'm sticking with my other comments about the obvious piece of crap release Bob was using.
If he could have released without taking his hands off the basetube, this disaster could have been averted.

Free wrote:If he could have released without taking his hands off the basetube, this disaster could have been averted.

I agree with you Warren. This is one of the areas where Tad is on the right track.