Statistics

At the beginning level of the bunny hill, hang gliding is very safe. The instructor is in total control as you glide several feet off the ground learning basic skills.

Even tandem flight is safe because of the extraordinary attention and precise control of variables that insure safety. Only when a certain measure of independence from professional supervision and assistance and the desire to achieve outside ideal training environments does significant risk increase. Of course, safety is more determined by the maturity and/or recklessness of the person engaging in the activity.

Kitty Hawk Kites, a hang gliding school the teaches up to 10,000 students per year has an average of 2 or 3 minor bump, scrap and strain injuries per year and has had several more serious arm injuries. In ten years of operation, OHGS has had two arm injuries.

Of course, anything pursued "casually" is more dangerous then something done with care, awareness and attention to detail. Thus, in some situations, driving your car is more risky than than a supervised and assisted hang gliding experience. Given, the proper training, equipment and continuing support of a safety conscious community, the decisions an individual makes is more important than the inherent risk of an actvity.

  
 Activity         Participants      Fatalities  Rate per 100,000
                                      per year   participants
 All accidents       230,000,000       96,000   42
 Traffic  Fatalities 162,850,000       46,000   28
 Power Boat Racing         7,000          5     71
 SCUBA                   300,000        140     47
 Mountaineering           60,000         30     50
 Boxing                    6,000         3      50 
   
 AIR VEHICLES:
 Air Shows             1,000              5     500
 Homebuilt             8,000             25     312
 General Aviation    550,000            800     145
 Sailplane            20,000              9     45
 Balloon               4,500              3     67
 Hang Gliding         25,000             10     40
 SKYDIVING           110,000             28     25

Safety evolution of hang gliding with improvements in equipment, instruction and the culture of support/mentoring. In 2007, there were no fatalities in the US.