Hi fellow SHGA members,

On Thurs 8/8/2024, we had an incident occur at apporox.1745 involving a P3 rated pilot who regularly flies Kagel/Sylmar, flying a “high B” rated wing. Wind on launch was SSE @ approx. 8 mph. Conditions at altitude were thermic. One pilot felt the air was “trashy at times”. I felt it was mildly bumpy/turbulent at times and did not personally experience any issues while flying this day and time. I launched approx.10 min after the pilot involved in the incident. It was reported that the pilot in question sustained a collapse of his right wing. (I didn’t witness the incident, but heard the wing impact the ground. Per the pilot, after actively piloting the wing, he was able to correct the collapse, but due to being relatively low to the terrain after correcting the collapse, the pilot impacted the terrain and ended up near the bottom of the first bowl. A witness on launch stated when he looked up and saw the pilot in question, he saw “both wing tips collapsed and the center of the wing inflated”, and “both of the pilots hands were in a low position”. This witness did mention that he was unsure as to when during the incident/collapse this was. Due to the steepness of the terrain and the pilot reporting unable to hike up or was it possible to have someone hike down safely to help him up and back to launch, it was determined that calling 911 was the best option. 911 was called, a rescue helicopter was dispatched, medics were able to rescue the downed pilot, and the pilot was airlifted to a local hospital to be examined and treated.

Cheers,

Tim/Assistant Safety Director