3 m/s downdraft (sink) forces paraglider to execute an emergency landing in a forestry cutblock

This flight was taken on a spring day with a lot of convective air. After a really smooth takeoff and gentle thermal lift in front of the launch I fly into a strong downdraft causing me to lose altitude quickly. You can hear the vario (variometer) tones indicating my high rate of descent. I was originally intending to fly over to the creek draw where there is usually reliable lift allowing us to climb high above our launch site. I'm not fully certain exactly why I encountered so much sink but I think it may have been the cold downdraft from a strong nearby thermal - probably in that creek draw! Pilots are trained to always have a few emergency landing areas in our mind at all times should you need it - the cutblock road was my best option. I had turned north into the prevailing wind to execute the emergency landing but a downwind rotor near the ground changed the wind direction to a tailwind which made my groundspeed on touchdown too fast and I ended up falling forward with the momentum. Fortunately I was able to land on the old road and avoid any stumps or slash in the cutblock and I walked away with no injuries to me or my wing. at the end I got on the radio and advised my friends still flying to "stay away from the gully". They did and found good lift to the north.
#paragliding #emergencylanding

[@jatufin]

Thanks for sharing! This kind of videos are very useful for us all.

[@ParaglidePOV]

welcome 👍 and thx! Things don’t always go as planned. debrief provides a chance to learn for me and if others find it helpful - great 🙌

[@ohakuneyachtclub8753]

glad he wasn't harmed. i did notice from 1.00 to 1.17 vario says umm theres lift here... pilot adjusts camera and goes straight. Ill be more observant myself now to those opportunities. thanks for sharing. hope your next flight is more enjoyable.

[@ParaglidePOV]

its true there was some dynamic lift at least but being so low and close to the hillside I didn’t feel I had enough margin to safely turn back towards hillside downwind. often I’ve found just be patient and a good climb is just ahead coming from the draw but this time it wasn’t there. My next flight there was great yes and I have not experienced this conditions there again. I’m happy no harm too 😉

[@JMT3406]

Thanks for sharing. I don't know where is the spot but at the beginning of the flight between 1.01 and 1.17 it seams there was some possibility to climb that you did not try. ?

[@ParaglidePOV]

ya at 1 minute or so there is some dynamic (wind) lift. I think I just pushed forward because my plan on launch was to get to the spot beyond the timber that usually produces a reliable thermal. But if I had it to do again (or next time) I could have tried ridge soaring in that first lift band and gained some altitude for safety and more options early. 👍

[@MrGaugeBoson]

How high was your groundspeed on landing? Seems pretty low given that you couldn’t even really flare😬. Scary!

[@ParaglidePOV]

I went back to my flight log to see. it was 42km/hr (about 6 km/hr tailwind) just before attempting flare. Flare did slow me to 29 at touchdown - but ya that’s pretty fast 🏃🏼‍♂️

[@Glen820]

Nice save! Sometimes we have to make our own good luck! That was very skillfully navigated given the circumstances glad the road was there!

[@ParaglidePOV]

thanks Glen! It was a safe landing, but sure wasn't very graceful! 😏 One debrief lesson from it is that I need to be more aware of the treeline rotor influence when I decided on my landing spot. The spot I selected was in the lee and the consequence was a downwind approach. I may have fared a little better further up the slope 🤔

[@petersfluege]

@Glen20 Sorry, no, absolut not "skillfully navigated": - no speedbar - unfavourable flight direction - no attempt to fly figure eight in an updraft - completely wrong landing direction, that was dangerous

[@Kozo0908]

That was a fast descent for landing, even with breaking hard 😮

[@ParaglidePOV]

yes fast! I think because rotor put me in downwind despite lining up into wind. i might have been able to run it out if I hadn’t touched down right in a bush on the road cut that grabbed my feet 🤨

[@petersfluege]

@@ParaglidePOV There was no rotor.

[@TheChrisBreyShow]

Just like the Fajita!

[@ParaglidePOV]

coming in hot 🔥

[@peterpadazopoulos2954]

Hard to see was terrain going up or was it going down on your final?

[@ParaglidePOV]

yes is hard to tell from video but its pretty much dead flat on final bearing as i’m coming in cross slope. side slope quite low,

[@peterpadazopoulos2954]

@@ParaglidePOV Thanks for reply

[@martind5596]

Obviously I’m commenting from my armchair but it seems you simply landed downwind. A quick bit of manoeuvring earlier on and you could have landed into wind on the road. I can’t really work out why you didn’t make that decision earlier on when it became obvious you weren’t going to clear the trees?

[@ParaglidePOV]

You are right 👍that I had the option to line up either way for the landing. Putting myself back in the moment, I felt the wind was Northwesterly so I decided to fly into that on landing. I may have misread the wind direction down low. I think also I had decided that if I overshoot the road keeps going in the direction I’m heading vs running out and facing the timberline the other way. Clearly there are many lessons to learn from this experience and I’m glad I’ve shared it for valuable debrief and other pilots can also benefit from it.

[@AndreiPGPilot]

why not push bar and escape the sink? you aparently just hovered above the sinking air area :)

[@ParaglidePOV]

good question Andrei. I was too low to be comfortable getting on bar - max height above the ground on the flight was 322 ft, so 200 ft above tree tops. If I induced a frontal collapse that low it’s too risky for my comfort.

[@AndreiPGPilot]

@@ParaglidePOV well I wasn't reffering to a full bar 😅 just enough so you can breeze above the tree tops :) anyways, glad it turned out fine for you 🤗

[@ParaglidePOV]

gotcha 👍

[@bradtrites2384]

Nicely done!

[@ParaglidePOV]

hi Brad 🙌, any landing you walk away from is a good one hey? At least I was able to walk 10 minutes and relaunch on lower launch to shake it off and not have to walk down 😉

[@cabanford]

Downwind landing. Didn't look so bad (keep your speed up - not so much brakes)

[@ParaglidePOV]

thanks taking a look. its a narrow balance - enough brake to reduce ground speed and yet not so much to induce a stall. and ya, landing not so bad overall, I only fell because I landed right on the road cut. 👍

[@cabanford]

@@ParaglidePOV I meant that when doing a down wind landing, you want as much speed as possible - this gives you more energy to do a big flair and kill off some of that excess ground speed. If you're pulling brakes, your glide angle will be much steeper and zero flair (I'm a pro tandem pilot here in Zermatt & have lots of experience with back wind landings 😜). Thanks for posting 👍😎

[@ParaglidePOV]

right

[@cabanford]

@@ParaglidePOV if the air is calm, you want as much speed as possible - a landing approach with the brakes on robs you of any energy, leaving yourself with no flare and often a hard thump into Terra firma. Hands all the way up until your final flare.

[@petersfluege]

"but a downwind rotor near the ground changed the wind direction to a tailwind" - not true, sorry, 3:13 THAT should be your landing direction, but you turn INTO the wind.... otherwise see below

[@ParaglidePOV]

Hi Peter, thanks for posting but a couple things aren't adding up for me with your suggestion. Maybe my description isn't clear enough so let me try to clarify here. 1st, at 3:13 I'm headed due west 90 degrees to the road giving me only 5 feet to spot land which seems more risky than landing in line with the road. If I overshoot I'm in the trees. Although it looks like a meadow, the green part of the cutblock is filled with stumps and slash and so not preferred. I decided to try and land in line with the road rather than 90 degrees across it. 2nd, a review of my instrument recording shows the wind from the north until my altitude reaches 75 feet AGL, then it turns westerly as I lined up along the road north-east for my final. I have a screenshot but can't attach it here. Anyway, that's why I believe there was rotor influence. At that point my ground speed increases to 44km, 6km above my trim speed (max airspeed) and is 40km/hr at landing despite a deep brake flare suggesting a tailwind influence on landing. Then, the wing falling forward of me on its nose after landing is another sign of a tailwind. I hope this helps clarify.

[@petersfluege]

@@ParaglidePOV (google translation) Thank you for your text! 1. I don't dispute anything in your description, except for the north wind, that's a misinterpretation because of the flight path, but whatever. 2. But you don't describe any mistakes regarding the landing, but there are mistakes. - The entire slope is in a strong west wind. So the landing should be planned towards the west. (The final decision on the landing direction is made at a height of 75 feet, so you can still replan.) - From here at 3:03 you should fly north. The downwind approach is over the forest, and landing is wonderful on the road towards the west. - IF you want to land on the road. The danger there is that the west wind blows over the edge of the forest and there can be a lee on the road. Maybe you could see the leaves moving near the road.... - Yes, landing on the cutblock was dangerous, BUT a clean landing against a 10-15kmh wind is OK. I would have set it higher up the slope, e.g. From here at 3:00 a 120 degree right turn with a tailwind to the north-eastern edge of the forest and then right again on the final approach. - This is particularly safe with the "rocking", energetic landing: on the final approach at a height of 25 feet, brake briefly, put your hands up, and stop hard at the very end. This gives the lowest touchdown speed. You practice this CAREFULLY on grass first, of course, so that you can do it over tree stumps, stones, especially with a TAILWIND!, etc. if you need it. Imho. Thank you for the conversation. Have fun flying and happy landings!

[@petersfluege]

@@ParaglidePOV You don't see your mistakes....

[@matiasguerraph]

1:05 ahi tenias tu ascendencia amigo ! ahi te tenias que quedar y no pasar a la descendente de esa termica !

[@ParaglidePOV]

I had some good luck with me for sure 🙏

[@Daveparapente]

d accord👍

[@climbhi2]

You are flying an Advance wing, why the full rap? That's what sent you to the ground and not flying on bar till you find left. You had no flare authority when you landed. Come in hot and kill it at the end. Proud yourself on your landing, everything before that was a gift. You risk spinning you're wing flying slow with a full rap, Advance wings don't like a full rap :)

[@ParaglidePOV]

Hi Tommy. I learned the wrap technique from my instructor and I like having the wrap when I'm expecting thermal flight - which I was that day. I disagree with your conclusion that having a wrap sent me to the ground and here's why I think that. While I have a wrap I'm not engaging the trailing edge and inducing drag - just maintaining contact with the wing. It just means having your hands a little higher and I'm used to that.