FAI ‘pauses’ major comps and promises safety review

The FAI, World Air Sports Federation, have put a “pause” on Category 1 paragliding and hang gliding competitions while work on improving safety takes place over the next few months.

In a statement issued on 3 October the federation said they recognised there had been “multiple” accidents during FAI sanctioned competitions this year, including two fatalities at Cat 1 championships. In the jargon, “Category 1” competitions mean World or Continental championships like a World or European championships – they are the biggest comps in the calendar. The “pause” does not affect Category 2 competitions.

The “pause” is designed to give sports administrators in the FAI and its free-flight commission CIVL time to make some changes “that will improve overall event quality and enhance safety at the competitions.” As well as a pause the FAI said they will organise a “Safety Stand Down” – providing a chance “to come together, examine safety rules and protocols and ensure we have best-in-class standards for our competitors.”

The dramatic response to the debate around safety in paragliding and hang gliding competitions comes after two pilots died in free flight world championships this year.

In August a British hang glider pilot, Steve Penfold, died from his injuries a month after crashing at the FAI Hang Gliding World Championships in Ager, Spain. And in September Belgian paraglider pilot Bram Declercq died a week after crashing at the FAI Paragliding World Championships in Castelo, Brazil.

The news of Bram’s death sparked strong reactions in the paragliding community and was followed by a social media campaign for more attention to be paid to safety in paragliding competition, as well as calls for changes in competition task setting and event management.

French team leader Julien Garcia led calls for CIVL’s entire board of six people to resign, a move that was officially backed by the French federation, the FFVL.

The political structure that underpins international paragliding and hang gliding competition is made up of two main bodies. The FAI is the World Air Sports Federation and sanctions competitions in a dozen different air sports, one of which is free flight – paragliding and hang gliding.

CIVL sits underneath the umbrella of the FAI and is the commission specifically dedicated to the sports of paragliding and hang gliding. This is where much of the political and bureaucratic legwork involved in creating and sanctioning the competition ecosystem takes place. That work involves delegates from national air sports organisations around the world working together on issues such as scoring, equipment standards, competition rules, and of course safety.

Neither the FAI or CIVL actually organise competitions – rather, they approve or sanction bids for large competitions from local organisers. They then work with the local organisers to help them understand what is needed and expected for a Category 1 competition.

In the statement, which was published at the same time on both the CIVL and FAI websites, the FAI said that the next Category 1 competition is the Pan-Americans in Brazil in April 2026. They said work will start now on identifying changes to be made. A final decision on whether that competition will go ahead or not will be made in December this year.

The next Category 1 competition after that is the European Hang Gliding Championship in June 2026. The FAI said they expect that event will go ahead as “we plan to have significant changes in place” before then.

The strong reaction to Bram’s death among competition pilots was in part fuelled by the disjointed communication from competition organisers and FAI/CIVL around the accident and the issue of safety overall. In a long statement published last week, CIVL president Bill Hughes set out what CIVL actually does and promised that CIVL would communicate “more frequently directly to the pilot community”. He also said they will start to use surveys to gauge pilot opinion, and not only rely on delegates and working groups.

The FAI statement in full reads:

“Over the past year there have been multiple accidents during FAI Hang Gliding and Paragliding competitions with two resulting fatalities. We mourn the competitors who have passed away and will keep them in our hearts forever. For those injured we wish a speedy recovery.

“After considerable discussion and deliberations, including listening to pilot feedback, we’ve decided to put a pause on Category 1 FAI Paragliding and Hang Gliding Cross Country events so that we have time to put in place some rule changes and additional process changes that will improve overall event quality and enhance safety at the competitions.

“The next Category 1 Cross Country event on the calendar is the 7th FAI Pan American Paragliding Championships in April of next year. The FAI Hang Gliding and Paragliding Commission (CIVL) will work directly with the Brazilian National Airsport Control (NAC) and organisers for the event to implement needed changes over the coming months. A final review and decision on whether the changes put in place are sufficient for the event to safely go forward will be made in December 2025 by FAI and CIVL.

“We plan to have significant changes in place before the subsequent event, which is the FAI European Hang Gliding Championship in June of next year, so we fully expect it will be able to go forth as planned, under the new rules and guidelines.

“Furthermore, prior to the most recent accidents, the FAI Executive Board and Commission Presidents Group agreed to organise and hold a temporary ‘Safety Stand Down’ which will take place at the conclusion of the northern hemisphere flying season. This will allow all air sports to come together, examine safety rules and protocols and ensure we have best in class standards for our competitors.

“For 120 years, FAI has been committed to advancements in air sports. Our events are, and must continue to be, the gold standard. We will take all actions necessary to ensure that continues to be the case.”