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Accidents and Injuries Related to Powered Paragliding: a Cross-Sectional Study

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Open Access Research BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005508 on 28 August 2014. Downloaded from Accidents and injuries related to powered paragliding: a cross-sectional study Francesco Feletti,1,2 Jeff Goin3,4 To cite: Feletti F, Goin J. ABSTRACT Strengths and limitations of this study Accidents and injuries related Objectives: Powered paragliding (PPG) and to powered paragliding: a paragliding are two totally different sports, mainly ▪ cross-sectional study. BMJ This is the first study in the literature on because of the use of an engine in powered Open 2014;4:e005508. powered paragliding. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014- paragliding. As a consequence, the pattern of injuries ▪ We analysed a large amount of data (384 inci- 005508 caused by each of these two sports may be different. dent reports) collected from 1995 to 2012. Setting: To test this hypothesis, we analysed 384 ▪ Under-reporting bias, due to the voluntary nature incident reports gathered by the US Powered ▸ Prepublication history for of data submission, cannot really be estimated, this paper is available online. Paragliding Association from 1995 to 2012. The because there is no way to find out the exact To view these files please majority of the incidents occurred in the USA, number of people who were aware of the exist- visit the journal online while 26 incidents occurred elsewhere: Canada (8), ence of the database. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ Mexico (5), Panama (1), China (1), Japan (1), Malaysia ▪ Data analysis was performed by only one bmjopen-2014-005508). (1), Indonesia ( Java) (1), Europe (8): of which Spain researcher with no cross-checking. (1), Belgium (1), UK (3), Italy (1), Romania (1), Received 17 April 2014 unknown (1). Revised 2 August 2014 Outcome: To identify the most affected body area and Accepted 6 August 2014 the most common type of injury sustained in PPG, and it requires a descent in order to take off, a to highlight any differences from paragliding. paramotor can take off from level ground Results: The most affected body areas in PPG were thanks to the power of the engine. It is safer the upper limbs (44.5%), followed by the lower limbs to fly over level ground because there are (32%), the back (9.8%), the head (7%), the pelvis fewer obstacles, the thermals are not too http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ (3.1), the chest (2.7%) and the abdomen (0.7%) strong, and winds are generally steady. (p<0.001). The engine caused 43 accidents (11.2%) in Furthermore, PPG differs from paragliding our study and was responsible for the majority of because the thrust of the engine allows the injuries to the upper limbs. The number of fatal paramotor pilot to take off and fly without accidents in PPG is not lower than in paragliding and the need for strong winds or thermals, there- hang-gliding. fore in safer and more stable weather condi- Conclusions: To help prevent the specific injuries of tions. However, compared with other aerial PPG, the most appropriate equipment should be sports, paragliding remains the most similar on September 26, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. identified. The results of this study also suggest that, in the future, this sport should be analysed separately to PPG: they both require the pilot to keep fl from paragliding. the wing in ated by means of his/her own weight and skill. 1U.O. Radiologia, PPG was invented in the 1980s and rapidly Ospedale S. Maria delle gained popularity—so much so that various Croci-Presidio Ospedaliero di Ravenna, Ausl della national and international competitions have Romagna, Ravenna, Italy INTRODUCTION been held throughout the world over the last 2ExtremeSportMed, Bologna, Powered paragliding (PPG) or paramotoring few years. In 2007, it was estimated that, in Italy is a sport in which the pilot flies by means of the USA alone, the sport was practised by 3 B.S. Aeronautical Science, a wing similar to that of paragliding, the 3000 people.1 It seems to be a prevalently Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, sport from which it is derived, under which male sport; in 2013, the number of female Florida, USA the crew is suspended by means of long members of the US Powered Paragliding 4U.S. Powered Paragliding lines. It is a sport in its own right—different Association represented only 2.6% of the Association, Dover, Delaware, because the equipment used includes an total membership. USA engine, worn on the back and held in place As PPG has grown in popularity, the fi Correspondence to by a harness ( gure 1). number of accidents associated with it has Dr Francesco Feletti; In contrast with paragliding, which is prac- inevitably increased. Knowledge of the acci- [email protected] tised over hilly or mountainous areas because dent dynamics, the type of injuries sustained Feletti F, et al. BMJ Open 2014;4:e005508. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005508 1 Open Access BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005508 on 28 August 2014. Downloaded from Figure 1 Paramotor in flight. and the body area affected is of vital importance in menu lists, checklists and text fields. It consisted of five sports medicine, in order to provide insight into the sections: types of conduct, protective clothing and safety systems 1. General information (date, time and place of the that should be adopted to improve safety. accident) A careful examination of the literature led us to con- 2. Pilot information: including demographic informa- clude that there are no existing studies on this sport in tion and details of the pilot’s PPG experience the medical literature, except for a case we had previ- 3. Details on the accident: including a description of http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ ously reported2; in a recent literature review,3 this sport the type of accident, the main cause, weather condi- is only mentioned among the varieties of paragliding, tions at the time, characteristics of the takeoff and with which it is usually grouped. landing area, and details of the pilot’s clothing and Given that flying a paramotor is very different from equipment flying a paraglider, we expected that the accident and 4. Injury information: including the body parts affected, injury types would differ greatly between the two sports the seriousness of the injury, any medical assistance as a result. The aim of this study was therefore to clarify and possible collateral damage to people or things the dynamics of paramotoring accidents, the conditions 5. Narrative: an extensive description of the event and on September 26, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. in which these occur, and the type of injuries sustained, its consequences and to highlight any differences from paragliding. The form lacked a specific question about the nature of the injuries, but careful reading of the narrative section allowed us to obtain this information from MATERIALS AND METHODS almost all the forms. When these data were missing, they We analysed incident reports of accidents that occurred were designated ‘unknown’ in the results. The narrative between 1995 and the end of 2012, which the US section was read by only one researcher. Powered Paragliding Association (USPPA) had collected The data published by the USPPA were public and using a specific form published on its website.4 Data col- anonymous; their use for study and publication purposes lection started in 1995; we decided to use all the data was authorised beforehand by the USPPA. The data available between 1995 and 2012 (the starting date of were analysed using descriptive statistics, using the soft- 2 the present study). Data were primarily collected for ware Wizard Pro 1.3.27 and the χ test. accidents in the USA but, as USPPA is popular among The following definition of injury was adopted: ‘any powered paragliders worldwide, accidents in other coun- physical complaint sustained by an athlete that results tries were also reported. from training or competition, irrespective of the need The forms submitted had been completed by the pilot for medical attention or time lost from sports activ- – involved, a witness, or the Association itself based on the ities’.5 7 Each incident report was also given a National information gathered. The form included drop-down Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NACA) score: a 2 Feletti F, et al. BMJ Open 2014;4:e005508. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005508 Open Access BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005508 on 28 August 2014. Downloaded from 7-point system8 developed to assess the severity of injur- Table 1 NACA score of powered paragliding accidents in ies and diseases sustained or developed during aviation this study accidents. However, it was not possible to distinguish between classes V and VI in all cases on the basis of the Per Category Description Pilots cent available data. These two classes both cover conditions that pose an immediate threat to life and require imme- NACA 0 No injury or disease 194 50.6 diate emergency medical assistance; therefore we NACA I Slight injury or illness. No 59 15.4 decided to consider them as a single category. acute medical intervention necessary We subsequently focused on accidents resulting in NACA II Slight to moderately severe 48 12.5 injury (disregarding those with a NACA score of 0), and injury or illness. Further we divided these into three classes based on the severity diagnostic examination of the injuries: needed or outpatient medical 1. minor (NACA I, II), usually not requiring emergency investigation, but usually no medical measures emergency medical measures 2. major (NACA III, IV, V, VI), almost always requiring necessary emergency medical measures NACA III Moderate to severe but not 43 11.2 3.
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