Safety

Although paragliding is classified as a high-risk sport, technological advances in the design of paraglider canopies have significantly reduced the number of recorded incidents since the pioneering days of the 1980s. On average there are between one and three fatalities a year in Great Britain, or slightly less than 1 fatality per 1,000 pilots in the United States. Though many fatalities involve more experienced pilots using faster, high-performance wings that are less stable in the air, less experienced pilots flying more stable wings are not immune. The most common minor injuries are twisted ankles and back injuries sustained during take-off and landing.

90% of all injuries occur in the first 10 flights and are, typically, to the lower leg. Once a pilot has achieved a full license (after 40 to 60 high-altitude flights) the injury rate drops significantly until 500 to 1000 flights have been completed. Then the injury rate spikes again and, typically, the injuries are very serious or fatal.

Trained pilots often take a safety course where they cause a collapse of the wing on purpose. Usually these safety trainings are taken while in very high altitude or over a lake, while keeping radio contact with a trained instructor. In some countries, such trainings are needed to obtain higher-level certificates.

In the early years, harnesses were made of a simple parachutist harness, possibly with a wooden board to make the flight easier on the legs, but now safety measures such as Kevlar back-protectors, thick foam and airbags are commonplace. Those airbags are not filled by explosive trigger like in automobiles, but filled with air during flight, not unlike the wing itself.

Another safety measure adopted by paragliding pilots is the use of a reserve parachute. A reserve can be deployed in extreme circumstances such as when the wing collapses in bad weather or the glider stalls without hope of recovery. While deploying a reserve parachute the main wings should be collected. However, on most modern wings a partial collapse at high altitude can be recovered by a gentle pumping on the brakes.