US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

This blog illustrates lawsuit-crazed paragliding enthusiasts going after other pilots, their flying organizations and the landowners who allow them to fly from their property. I have said for many years that paragliding enthusiasts are less responsible and capable aviators than hang glider pilots so it has come as no surprise to me that I have been unable to find much of this kind of stuff in hang gliding. Feel free to post or comment on the kind of substandard aviators hang gliding pilots worldwide have invited in to dilute their magnificent sport and even serve as agents of its destruction.

There is no test available to weed out these treacherous numbskulls who fly paragliders even when we tell them it's not a good idea and then sue, in effect, every hang glider pilot in the association when they crash their inherently dangerous flying parachute. But there is an easy solution.

- Form a national hang gliding organization without paragliders in it -

Paraglider sues fellow pilot over broken back
http://www.luton-dunstable.co.uk/Paraglider-sues-fellow-pilot-broken/story-21699647-detail/story.html

A paraglider who broke his back in a mid-air collision when coming in to land is now battling for massive compensation in London’s High Court.

Symon Petrou, a father-of-three from Luton who lived for paragliding until the October 2009 tragedy on Dunstable Downs, fractured his spine when the wing tip of another glider struck his foot around 15ft off the ground, sending him toppling to the earth.

The 53-year-old had to wear a stabilising brace for around eight months after the accident and is still dogged by severe pain due to his injuries.

He was left an ‘incomplete paraplegic’, suffering from lack of sensation, reduced mobility, and acute fatigue after walking just a few hundred yards.

But one of the most devastating results of the accident was having to abandon paragliding, which had been his passion.

Mr Petrou is now suing the novice pilot, Marcio Bertoncello, who he claims caused the accident, as well as James Dell and Gary Cooper, in their capacity as the then chairman and safety officer of the Dunstable Hang-Gliding and Paragliding Club.

...The hearing of Mr Petrou’s damages claim is set for November, but reached the High Court in a preliminary clash between lawyers on both sides.

One of the initial issues to be resolved by Mr Justice Griffith Williams is whether Mr Petrou can take legal action against an ‘unincorporated’ club of which he was himself a member.
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Petrou won his claim against the club he belonged to: the Dunstable Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club
http://davidsollom.com/previous-cases/

Simon Petrou and Dunstable Hang gliding and Paragliding Club
Instructed by Mr Scott Phillips of Stewarts Law LLP in April 2011 on behalf of the claimant. A very complex case that relied on a significant amount of email and forum correspondence which was entirely contradictory to witness statements. The case continued until the final Expert’s Reports were prepared, at which point a settlement in favour of the claimant was agreed.

- Form a national hang gliding organization without paragliders in it -

Paraglider Mathew McHugh sues for $2 million after losing a leg at Mona Vale rock face
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/paraglider-mathew-mchugh-sues-for-2-million-after-losing-a-leg-at-mona-vale-rock-face/news-story/72dcc25db2ad6c935cbe04b412142d51

A NOVICE paraglider who lost his leg when he slammed into cliffs at a popular launch site is suing a northern beaches council and the sport’s governing body for more than $2 million, saying they failed to warn him the site was dangerous.

“I still remember feeling my bones crunch,” he said.

Mr McHugh claims the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia website should have classed the headland as a site for intermediate and advanced paragliders and warned that novices should not try to fly there. He also claimed Pittwater Council should have placed a sign at the site warning of past paragliding ­accidents.

Insurers for the council and the federation both plan to strongly defend the claim.



- Form a national hang gliding organization without paragliders in it -

Opinion on Matthew McHugh
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PARAGLIDER SUES BECAUSE IT WAS DANGEROUS
http://www.hotheads.com.au/stupid-lawsuits.htm

Former Nova 96.9 radio weekend breakfast presenter and novice paraglider Mathew McHugh, 33, had his left leg amputated below the knee after he hit a rock face at "free-fal"” speed while paragliding at Cook Terrace, Mona Vale Headland in 2014. He is suing a northern beaches council and the sport's governing body for more than $2 million, saying that they failed to warn him that the site was dangerous. McHugh was not insured, had only 30 hours flying experience and had never flown at Cook Terrace when he crashed into the rock face. He fractured his spine in four places, shattered his pelvis, broke his right ankle and foot and waited two hours for a rescue team to untangle him from a tree branch.

McHugh claims that the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia (HGFA) website should have classed the headland as a site for intermediate and advanced paragliders and warned that novices should not try to fly there. He also claimed Pittwater Council should have placed a sign at the site warning of past paragliding accidents. Insurers for the council and the federation both plan to strongly defend the claim. The HGFA has hit back by launching its own investigation, claiming that McHugh was flying "illegally" because he was not being supervised by a senior safety officer or a duty pilot.

McHugh's lawyer John Kambas said that they were not denying paragliding was dangerous. "What we are saying is that if he had a warning sign, if the website said this is an intermediate site, not a novice site, he would not have gone."

This is another one of those completely unjustified lawsuits, where a person who was allegedly a responsible adult, took a very obvious risk by jumping off a cliff while hanging from a piece of canvas, severely injured himself and is now blaming his foolhardiness on somebody else. Even an imbecile would realise that paragliding comes with risks and there are no guarantees of safety whatsoever. Even the most experienced paragliders in the world have been killed while engaging in this activity and McHugh would have known this. It's a dangerous pastime.

But McHugh is suing the HGFA and Pittwater Council for his own negligence. Why the hell should Pittwater Council erect a sign saying something like "Jumping Off This Cliff Is Dangerous" and why should the HGFA somehow take responsibility for McHugh's foolishness? HGFA had absolutely no requirement to class any places as dangerous or safe - this is entirely up to the fool who is thinking of jumping off those places to assess the risk. And does McHugh expect every place and every thing to carry warnings? Does he expect every razor blade to carry a placard stating that it is sharp? Does he expect a meal in a restaurant to have a sign stating that the food was dangerous because he tries to eat it, he might inadvertently choke on it and die?

However, the HGFA is very wrong in claiming that McHugh was flying "illegally" because he was not being supervised by a senior safety officer or a duty pilot. The HGFA is nothing more than a private association and it has no jurisdiction over anybody and has no rule-making authority. What McHugh did was completely legal. However, McHugh is doing what Hotheads calls "Extortion By Lawsuit", where somebody commits a stupidity and is injured, then tries to extort money from others by claiming that it was their fault. This sort of lawsuit should not only be immediately disallowed and all costs awarded against the plaintiff, but in fact the plaintiff should be charged with attempted extortion.
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- Form a national hang gliding organization without paragliders in it -

Can someone explain this to me?

EDWARD VENARD,
Appellant
(Plaintiff),
v.
JACKSON HOLE PARAGLIDING, LLC, a
Wyoming LLC, TOM BARTLETT, SCOTT
HARRIS, MATT COMBS, JON HUNT,
ANDREW FRYE, and JEFF COULTER,
Appellees
(Defendants).
http://cases.justia.com/wyoming/supreme-court/s-11-0232.pdf?ts=1396153272

If "JHP is not a member of USHPA."
and
"USHPA is not a party in this litigation,"
then
Why is the USHPA lawyer representing the defense?

Representing Appellees:
Cameron S. Walker, Schwartz, Bon, Walker & Studer, LLC, Casper, Wyoming;
Timothy E. Herr, Herr & Zapala, LLP, San Jose, California; and David G. Lewis,
Jackson, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Walker.

I would like to know
1) who paid the USHPA lawyer's fees?
and
2) what percentage of those fees, defending a paragliding company against a paraglider pilot, were paid by hang glider pilots?
and
3) Are those hang glider pilots angry or stupid?