In Britain it seems that many of the nastiest injuries to pilots result from collapses between about twenty and forty feet from the hill. Although (or possibly because) this may partly be due to the large proportion of time spent at this height it is worth taking a look at the problem. It would be easy say that pilots are flying in conditions that are too difficult for them but boys will be boys and (to dispel any notions of prejudice!) girls can be very unladylike. So here goes.

Collapses at this height are sometimes too low to recover from but high enough to do a lot of damage to the pilot. In drag-less free fall the time taken for an object to fall 30 feet (10 metres) would be about 2.5 seconds and the impact speed about 25 metres per second. Practically we might consider an impact at about 5 to 10 metres per second after 3 to 5 seconds. Still a big thud in a short time.

When low a more or less instinctive reaction is required for a bad closure as the standard 'steer / check-canopy / re-inflate' procedure is simply too slow. The priority must be steering and PLF preparation with canopy checking and re-inflation later if there is enough time. Experienced pilots can sometimes feel how much of the canopy is deflated without having to look and may know whether or not it is worth giving the brakes a quick pump without looking.

Attempting to re-inflate when low by giving deep pumps bears the risk of impacting with arms outstretched downwards. This may account for the high incidence of severe wrist injuries amongst paraglider pilots. If the ground is coming up fast enough to do that sort of damage the best policy is to tuck in for a PLF. It is also worth noting that a pilot flying fully supine needs more time to prepare for a PLF than one sat in an upright posture. A good compromise between safety and performance is to fly sitting upright at low heights and more reclined when higher.

The above may sound a somewhat defeatist policy and is certainly not intended to supplant the 'It ain't over til it's over' philosophy. However, pilots who crash can often limit their injuries by getting into the PLF position early. To achieve this some kind of pre-determined policy is necessary to cope in the short time available after a big tuck when low.