Trees, water and power lines

Keep trees, water and power lines out of reach, and know the first responses if a tree, a water landing or a wire becomes unavoidable.

In this lesson you will

Every flight plan ends in the landing field. But a misjudged glide, unexpected sink or a change in the wind can leave you short, and the edges of many fields hold the three landings nobody plans: trees, water and power lines.

They are not equally dangerous. Aimed tree landings usually end lightly¹. Water and power lines kill: all five German pilots who died in the landing phase from 2018 to 2022 died in water landings², and contact with a power line is likely to be fatal³. Avoidance is the real plan; this lesson adds the first responses for when it fails.

Keep them out of reach

Most of this lesson happens before you fly. Find the cables before you need the landing field, and assume every road has power lines³; Assessing the landing field covers the rest.

Don’t fly where you might end up over water without a dry option. If you must choose, the DHV says to pick an obstacle such as a tree or bushes rather than water⁴.

Decide early, while you still have height to set up a proper approach. Pilots tend to fly towards whatever they stare at, so once you have chosen, look at the safe spot, not the hazard⁵.

Figure: Three storyboards: aim for the centre of a tree and then stay put; prepare early for water and get clear of the lines; find power lines early, and after contact nobody touches you.

Three storyboards: aim for the centre of a tree and then stay put; prepare early for water and get clear of the lines; find power lines early, and after contact nobody touches you.

Tree landing

If a tree landing is the best option left, choose your tree and commit early. The DHV’s tree-landing advice prefers lower, younger trees to very tall ones, because tall conifers are bare low down and catch a wing poorly¹.

Landing in a tree

Fly a normal approach and aim straight at the centre of the crown, into wind.
Cue The crown stays fixed ahead of you and grows in your view.
Why If only one side of the wing catches, you swing round and the risk of serious injury rises sharply¹.
Go in upright, muscles tensed, hands in front of your face.
Why The crown catches you and the wing, and your hands protect your face¹.
Once you stop, check yourself for injuries and whether you hang securely. If not, hold on to the trunk or a branch.
Cue Branches creak and you sway.
Why A fall from the tree is now the main danger⁶.
Clip yourself to the trunk with the sling and carabiner you carry for this, and keep your helmet on.
Why You may hang there for hours before rescuers reach you⁶.
Stop any heavy bleeding, then call your local emergency number. Give your exact position, your injuries and whether you could fall.
Cue Move slowly and deliberately, so you don’t drop your phone.
Why Rescuers need to find you and know how urgent it is⁶.
Wait, even for hours. Never climb down on your own.
Why Self-rescues from height have caused serious and fatal falls⁶.

Where to clip the sling is disputed. One DHV article suggests the main carabiners or the chest strap. A later one by a mountain rescuer says not the riser carabiners, because rescuers have to unload and open them; girth-hitch short slings into the harness’s own strap junctions instead⁷. Carry a sling and carabiner, and secure yourself the way your school shows you.

Instructor's note When a friend lands in a tree

Don’t fly close over the spot: whatever caught them can catch you. Note exactly where it is, land safely and organise help; don’t assume someone else has. If the landing was harmless, the pilot must tell the emergency services, so nobody starts a rescue. A rescue helicopter may stay well away, because its downwash can pull the wing and pilot out of the tree⁸.

Leave getting the wing down to the rescuers or a tree climber. It should be freed patiently, without yanking lines or fabric, and checked before it flies again⁹.

Water landing

The BHPA’s safety committee says a water landing is usually fatal, so don’t land in water⁴. Pilots get tangled in the canopy and about 300 m985 ft of lines, and your back protector, foam or airbag, floats and turns you face down as you go in⁴.

Moving water, surf and wet sand are worse still. A wet wing in a current can fill with about four tonnes of water and drag you. Never land on wet sand or near the surf line; if you can’t avoid it, the DHV says to open the buckles before landing and get to safety at once. Never try to save your equipment. If a water landing at the coast can’t be avoided, the DHV says to fly over the surf and land further out, where a boat can reach you¹⁰.

Be ready near water

Near water, wear a self-inflating life jacket. The DHV suggests an automatic one with at least 200 N of buoyancy and the FAI suggests 275 N; one harness maker wants a collar that keeps an unconscious pilot’s head above water¹¹¹². In surf, a life jacket can make it harder to swim out through the breaking waves once you are free of the kit. Carry a hook knife within reach and test it, because cheap ones blunt after a few cuts¹¹.

If you can’t avoid it

All the sources agree on these points¹³:

Prepare early: gloves off, sit back, buckles ready.
Never leave the harness while you are still above the water. Height over water is very hard to judge: an assistant instructor died in 2009 after jumping from an estimated 15–20 m50–65 ft.
Get clear of the canopy and lines fast. If you are tangled or can’t open a buckle, cut yourself free¹¹.

They differ on the details:

Buckles. The DHV (2019): if there is time, open most buckles, then slide out of the harness on touching the water. The BHPA Pilot Handbook, as quoted in 2007: loosen the leg and chest straps and release quick-release buckles just before splash-down. The BHPA’s 2007 instructor manual: unclip the chest strap and loosen the leg straps on the approach, then release them on entering the water¹³.
Direction. The DHV: land into wind; if the buckles won’t open, it describes a deliberate stall just before the water, so the wing drops behind you, and if you land downwind, it says don’t brake at all. The 2007 BHPA handbook: land downwind without flaring, so the canopy flies on, away from you¹⁴. Never try a stall you have not been taught; heights over water are very hard to judge, as the jump above shows¹³.

All of them try to keep the canopy and lines off you. The BHPA texts are as quoted in a 2007 accident report, and current editions may differ. Your school’s briefing for any site near water comes first.

After any water landing, rinse off salt water and dry the wing completely before it flies again; a wet reserve comes out, dries and is repacked¹⁵¹⁶.

Power lines

A collision with a power line is likely to be fatal, by electrocution or by a fall after the wing burns through, so the only real plan is avoidance. Turn away as early as possible if there is any chance of hitting one³. The sources give no technique for meeting a wire, only for avoiding it. If a wire is near your path, choose another landing while you still can; aimed tree landings, for example, usually end lightly¹.

Safety-critical After contact, nobody touches you

Treat the line as live until the rescue services confirm it is switched off. The network’s protection often doesn’t detect a pilot on a wire, and automatic reclosing can switch a tripped line back on within seconds¹⁷.

If you hang on one wire, secure yourself against falling and touch nothing else: no other wire, the pylon or the ground. Call for help, ask everyone to keep away, and wait. Helpers keep well away and call the emergency services instead of trying to help. If a line has come down, move away from it in small steps¹⁷.

Common mistake Stretching the glide over trees, water or wires

Symptom: You are low, the landing field lies just beyond a river or a tree line, and you hold on, hoping.
Cause: Fixing on the plan instead of choosing a safe option while you still had height.
Fix: Decide early, and land short in the best open space you can reach. Look at where you want to go, not at the hazard⁵.

Common mistake Half-committing to a tree

Symptom: You try to scrape past a tree, and one wingtip catches and swings you round.
Cause: Not choosing between the tree and the gap.
Fix: Either avoid the tree completely or aim at the centre of its crown, upright and committed¹.

Standards differ Unplanned landings in the training systems

Common ground: Every source we found teaches avoidance first. SafePro lists emergency procedures for tree and water landings and power lines in its Stage 4 knowledge³.

USHPA (USA): P2 ground school teaches that lines across a field mean fences, ditches or power lines, and to assume all roads have power lines³.
BHPA (UK): The safety committee says not to land in water, because it is usually fatal⁴. Search every field for cables and turn away early from any chance of a collision³.
APPI (international): No specific APPI procedure was found for this guide; follow your school’s briefing.

Summarised from each body’s published material, which changes over time. Check the current official documents and follow your school.

Questions students ask

What should I carry for an unplanned landing?

A sling and carabiner for securing yourself in a tree⁶, a tested hook knife within reach¹¹, and a phone. Near water, add a self-inflating life jacket¹².

If I have to choose, is a tree better than water?

Yes. The DHV says to choose an obstacle landing, such as a tree or bushes, instead of water⁴.

I touched a wire and nothing happened. Is it dead?

Don’t assume so. A tripped line can switch itself back on within seconds, so treat it as live until rescuers confirm it is off¹⁷.

Key points

Avoidance is the plan: find cables before you need the field, and don’t fly where you couldn’t reach dry land.
Tree: aim at the centre of the crown, into wind, upright, hands protecting your face. Then secure yourself, call and wait; never climb down alone.
Water: wear a life jacket and carry a hook knife near water; never leave the harness above the water; get clear of the lines fast.
Buckles and landing direction in water: the sources differ, so follow your school’s briefing.
Power lines: contact is likely fatal. After contact, treat the line as live until rescuers say it is off, and nobody touches you.

Ground to Solo is a study aid. Paragliding is learned in person with a qualified instructor at a recognised school; nothing here certifies you to fly.