US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

http://www.mynews3.com/mostpopular/stor ... MG9tw.cspx
Boy killed in hang glider crash volunteered to go first - News3LV

2015/03/30 00:37 UTC - Published
2015/03/30 17:38 UTC - Updated
Nathan O'Neal
noneal@mynews3.com

LAS VEGAS (KSNV My News 3) -- The 11-year-old New Mexico boy killed in a hang glider accident Friday afternoon was eager to take to the skies.

In a Skype interview Sunday from their home in Farmington, N.M., family members said Arys Moorhead volunteered to go first at the dry lake bed south of Jean.

Flying in tandem with instructor John "Kelly" Harrison, Arys was being pulled behind a modified pickup truck.

The brief moments of trying to catch flight turned horribly bad in just seconds. "The truck took a turn ... the turn caused a little bit of slack in the line ... and when the slack came out of the line it yanked the glider and caused the glider to stall and nose dive into the ground," Corbin Moorhead said.

Harrison died at the scene shortly after impact. Arys was transported toward Las Vegas in a desperate attempt to get medical help, but he died from his injuries about 8 miles north of the crash site, at least 20 minutes from the nearest hospital.

The family doesn't want to think about the "what ifs."
Metro investigators are trying to determine what caused the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration also has been notified.

The brief moments of trying to catch flight turned horribly bad in just seconds. "The truck took a turn ... the turn caused a little bit of slack in the line ... and when the slack came out of the line it yanked the glider and caused the glider to stall and nose dive into the ground," Corbin Moorhead said.

Seconds into the launch the driver does a hard turn.
Truck stops. Didn't even have to turn sideways to make the rope go slack.
Why did driver turn abruptly seconds after launch?

A couple hundred ft. of rope out at 50 - 80 ft. altitude?
Truck stops. Rope goes slack.
Pilot fails to release in the split seconds before the rope goes tight.
Inevitable crash.

An expert USHPA Accident Investigator, Mitch Shipley is on the way from Florida, as per Mark G. Forbes.
In the meantime, MGF has asked that no one speculate what happened based on expert advice from USHPA Corporation Attorney Tim Herr.

In which direction did the driver make this wild turn?
Was this a desperate attempt to get under a locked out glider that couldn't release?

update: News video
http://www.mynews3.com/content/video/de ... atId=25504
Local media says Harrison didn't have proper BLM Permit or a county business license.
Totally irrelevant.
Says that driver would not be facing any charges from the police.

Free wrote:http://www.mynews3.com/mostpopular/story/Boy-killed-in-hang-glider-crash-volunteered-to-go/KUx_KfzD5U2qyDmi8MG9tw.cspx
Boy killed in hang glider crash volunteered to go first - News3LV

2015/03/30 00:37 UTC - Published
2015/03/30 17:38 UTC - Updated
Nathan O'Neal
noneal@mynews3.com

LAS VEGAS (KSNV My News 3) -- The 11-year-old New Mexico boy killed in a hang glider accident Friday afternoon was eager to take to the skies.

In a Skype interview Sunday from their home in Farmington, N.M., family members said Arys Moorhead volunteered to go first at the dry lake bed south of Jean.

Flying in tandem with instructor John "Kelly" Harrison, Arys was being pulled behind a modified pickup truck.

The brief moments of trying to catch flight turned horribly bad in just seconds. "The truck took a turn ... the turn caused a little bit of slack in the line ... and when the slack came out of the line it yanked the glider and caused the glider to stall and nose dive into the ground," Corbin Moorhead said.

Harrison died at the scene shortly after impact. Arys was transported toward Las Vegas in a desperate attempt to get medical help, but he died from his injuries about 8 miles north of the crash site, at least 20 minutes from the nearest hospital.

The family doesn't want to think about the "what ifs."
Metro investigators are trying to determine what caused the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration also has been notified.

The brief moments of trying to catch flight turned horribly bad in just seconds. "The truck took a turn ... the turn caused a little bit of slack in the line ... and when the slack came out of the line it yanked the glider and caused the glider to stall and nose dive into the ground," Corbin Moorhead said.

Seconds into the launch the driver does a hard turn.
Truck stops. Didn't even have to turn sideways to make the rope go slack.
Why did driver turn abruptly seconds after launch?

A couple hundred ft. of rope out at 50 - 80 ft. altitude?
Truck stops. Rope goes slack.
Pilot fails to release in the split seconds before the rope goes tight.
Inevitable crash.

An expert USHPA Accident Investigator, Mitch Shipley is on the way from Florida, as per Mark G. Forbes.
In the meantime, MGF has asked that no one speculate what happened based on expert advice from USHPA Corporation Attorney Tim Herr.

To me the sentence reported in the captured quote could also be interpreted to mean that the flight went well for a few moments and at the end of tow the truck turned around and the flight went horribly bad in just seconds after the slack came out of the tow line.
Without more information from people in the know I’m not ready to accept that the crash happened just seconds after lift off. Because a driver turning a truck around just seconds after lift of makes no sense at all.

However it could have been a lock out seconds after lift off.

Other reports are saying the driver didn’t know that the (Kite) HG pilot hadn’t released. If a driver thought that the line had been released from the (kite) HG end that would be one of the reasons to make a turn to return.
Other reasons would be:
1) Taking off in a slight cross (no problem with platform towing.) then turning into the wind for the tow up or possibly using the longest length of the tow flats. That turn could give slack and once it went tight if the Kite/ HG was not in line a lock out could start.
2) Truck turning to try to get in front of a gust turned kite/glider. Which is a bad idea unless the driver knows that the line can’t be released. (only then should that maneuver be used since free wheel is really never totally free wheel during a lock out)
3) The list is longer but the rest and that above is just speculation until more FACTS come in. (The people that know towing will be able to spot BS.)

Too many other news reports were showing their ignorance by calling it a cling glider, grasp glider, hand glider, motorized, and other key words that give away the fact that the people reporting were mostly clueless.

Once we read the correct jargon we will recognize either a “Know-it-all,” or a knowledgeable tow pilot. Then without a video it could still be: 1) truth, 2) lie affected by agenda, 3) misunderstanding of events, 4) FL pilot with the right jargon with low tow experience. 5) help me out here there has to more.
PS edit: Mitch Shipley will be able to figure it out. He has ratings longer than a sleeve will hold.

The reporting leaves much to be desired.
If the line went slack the driver probably thought they were off line and angled the rig for line retrieval.
That makes sense.

I doubt seeing any report from u$hPa anytime soon.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25321
Stop the Stupids at the USHPA BOD meeting
Mark G. Forbes - 2011/09/30 23:21:56 UTC

Here's how it really works:

- Member submits an accident report. Could be the pilot who had the accident, or some other witness.

- Accident report is sent to Tim to maintain legal privilege. Tim reviews the report and determines whether there's significant legal risk associated with it. He may redact certain parts (personally identifiable information, etc.) if in his opinion exposure of that information poses a risk to us. If the report is very risky, he may decide that it can't be shared further, and will notify the ED about it. He may also notify our insurers if he sees a potential for a claim, as is normal practice for any incident where we are aware of such a potential.

- Redacted report goes to the accident review chairs, for incorporation into periodic articles in the magazine. Articles focus on root causes of accidents, not on personal narratives or details.

The whole procedure is outlined in SOP 03-16, which you can read by logging into the USHPA website and clicking on "Policy Manual".

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=16439
Some day we will learn
Steve Morris - 2010/03/31 23:58:54 UTC

In 2009 there were several serious hang gliding accidents involving pilots on the HG forum (or who had close friends on the forum that reported that these accidents had occurred). In each case there was an immediate outcry from forum members not to discuss these accidents, usually referring to the feelings of the pilots' families as a reason to not do so. In each case it was claimed that the facts would eventually come out and a detailed report would be presented and waiting for this to happen would result in a better informed pilot population and reduce the amount of possibly harmful speculation.

In each of these cases I have never seen a final detailed accident report presented in this forum. So far as I can tell, the accident reporting system that has been assumed to exist here doesn't exist at all, the only reports I've seen are those published in the USHPA magazine. They are so stripped down, devoid of contextual information and important facts that in many cases I have not been able to match the magazine accident report with those mentioned in this forum.

The end result has been that effective accident reporting is no longer taking place in the USHPA magazine or in this forum. Am I the only one who feels this way?

The two copied messages above we totally purloined from Tad at Kitestrings.org
http://www.kitestrings.org/post7634.htm ... 8968#p7634

PS: There are couple examples of sarcastic gamesmanship over there that are too much, even for my taste, Tad. Inappropriate emoticons IMO, that I'm sure are meant for specific people that have dismissed your warnings but not everyone that reads it knows that whole story. I would take those down. The language doesn't help either. Sorry, I would like to be able to post links to your comments and you are making it very difficult.

I doubt seeing any report from u$hPa anytime soon.

I agree.

This is about as horrible of an accident as anyone could ever imagine.

I can't think of anyone who would think anything else.

But I wonder what did go wrong. EVERYONE should wonder and question what went wrong. A 12 year old boy should not die during a a tandem instructional flight - not to mention the pilot.

I will say that something went wrong that shouldn't have gone wrong (duh!). If it was weather related (a rogue thermal [dust devil] breaking off) then there's nothing to be done. But the accounts being reported (as roughly as they may be) don't seem to point in that direction. But that still could be part of the story. And even I am jumping the gun because I have not read every post in this thread - I'll accept the blame for that.

I will have to check into whether the driver has been interviewed/questioned. That's a serious piece of the puzzle. Has anyone heard about the story in that regard?

Terrible news

billcummings wrote:

I doubt seeing any report from u$hPa anytime soon.

I agree.

Mitch Shipley is doing the investigation. We met briefly just last year at Big Spring comp.

Without speculating about this horrible incident, hopefully we can all agree that platform towing clinics should

not only be pilot training, crew member training is of equal importance.

The heart of the problem is a belief that towing is acceptable.
I have no problem at all. I never needed it.
The sport has a huge problem. It thinks it needs towing. Why?
Experts going for distance out of Big Springs. Okay.
But being too lazy to find a sandy hillside to teach hang gliding is not a good excuse for killing people.
Towing adds compounding elements of risk that, in my opinion, are generally unacceptable for weight-shift aircraft.
Yes, it is possible for some experts to do it right but I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about what we've got - people doing it wrong.
It's been this way since the beginning of the sport.
The fatality lists are filled with towing accidents.
Jean Lake is surrounded by hills and mountains.
Here's a photo of a paraglider who launched off one at Jean Lake.

Looks like a great place to train a student.
Any risk is about as low as it can get.
I haven't figured out this "tandem training" BS.
I don't know a single person out of hundreds from my era who learned to fly by towing.
Sure, if you don't have any hills, go ahead and rationalize it.
I'll nod my head but "You need a road trip," I'll be thinking.
Source: http://www.riderplanet-usa.com/atv/trai ... a2df8b.htm
I ask myself, does U$hPa encourage towing when it is not necessary?
It's often part and parcel with tandem "instruction" - perhaps in the majority of cases?

And this whole deal about not discussing accidents anymore...
Time for a new organization.
One with just recreational pilots on the Board of Directors instead of it being dominated with "instructors" out to make a middle-class living or better.
Maybe just a bunch of people exercising their first amendment rights in pursuit of survival.
When you get too big, you become a target for lawyers.
Better to structure it as a group of loosely affiliated cells.
That the "instructor" had no business license is mentioned.
This means he took payment. For a joy ride. And killed an innocent child. It doesn't get worse than this.
This is what I have been warning over and over will destroy the U$hPa and maybe the sport, as well.
U$hPa is a "support the money" corporation.
What most of you need is a club that supports hang gliding.
We may find that towing and tandem for pay has no insurance coverage, anyway - but negligence has unlimited liability....
Best not to be associated with any of that.

What to Expect During Your First Tandem Hang Gliding Experience

In the "good ol' days" of hang gliding, enthusiasts would literally run and jump off of cliffs to launch their hang glider. Imagine how intimidating that could be for a first-time pilot. But there's no need to panic! There are two basic and extremely safe methods for getting started as a beginning hang gliding pilot.

Lessons are available which involve instruction on training, or "bunny," hills. The bunny hills allow the novice to experience hang gliding from only several feet above the ground. Training entails practice from the bunny hills under a controlled environment with certified instructors. Your instructor will help you become familiar with the equipment you will be using. Then you will practice solo control of the hang glider by flying no higher than 10 to 20 feet in the air, after which you and the instructor will embark on your tandem adventure by foot-launching the hang glider from a much steeper hill.

As an alternative, you may choose an aerotow high-altitude hang glide lesson, sure to make your cloud-bustin' adventure stress-free and exciting! After some brief general instruction you'll be fitted into your harness, and you and the instructor will be elevated by an ultralight plane to up to 3000 feet in the air!

The plane will then release you, and the sound of the engine fading away will soon be replaced by the sound of the wind whooshing by you as you gracefully soar along on pillows of air. Your instructor will teach you how to speed up, slow down, or change the direction of your hang glider.

But don't get too involved in steering your hang glider that you don't notice the landscape above and below you! The stress of everyday life melts away, with not a cubicle or file cabinet in sight! Only the sloping hills of trees.never-ending blue skies.perhaps a mighty eagle or two.

After an exhilarating flight, your instructor will prepare for a smooth and soft landing. Your hang gliding adventure is over!
http://www.weaty.com/HangGliding/Hanggl ... glide.html

Mark G. Forbes - 2011/09/30 23:21:56 UTC

Here's how it really works:

- Member submits an accident report. Could be the pilot who had the accident, or some other witness.

- Accident report is sent to Tim to maintain legal privilege. Tim reviews the report and determines whether there's significant legal risk associated with it. He may redact certain parts (personally identifiable information, etc.) if in his opinion exposure of that information poses a risk to us. If the report is very risky, he may decide that it can't be shared further, and will notify the ED about it. He may also notify our insurers if he sees a potential for a claim, as is normal practice for any incident where we are aware of such a potential.

- Redacted report goes to the accident review chairs, for incorporation into periodic articles in the magazine. Articles focus on root causes of accidents, not on personal narratives or details.

What a lovely image of the U$hPa consigliere redacting accident reports. Dickens couldn't write stuff that nasty. And of course delusional to think that in this day and age information can be manipulated and controlled so readily. Lawyers protecting pilots from lawyers. It's clear who the winners are in this arrangement.