Paragliding activities do not require registration and make flight records to investigate difficulties The ombudsman advocates real-name registration

Paraglider flying has become more and more popular in Hong Kong in recent years. There have been people who lost control of paragliding and crashed into a mountain on Lantau Island and died. There are also people who lost control and accidentally landed in the jungle while operating a paraglider in Shek O. However, there is still no specific legal regulation. .

The Office of The Ombudsman launched an active investigation and found that the current paragliding activities do not require prior registration with any agency, nor do pre-flight planning or post-flight records. For example, the person in charge of a private farm has complained that paraglider pilots have repeatedly landed on their farm by mistake. He also destroyed the facilities of the farm. Afterwards, because it was difficult to confirm the identity of the pilot, he could only persuade those involved in paragliding activities through relevant organizations.

The PCPD suggested that the Civil Aviation Department could implement a real-name registration system for paragliding activities, requiring pilots to register for individuals and aircraft separately for identification purposes.

After an investigation by the Office of The Ombudsman, the Office of The Ombudsman listed four areas for improvement in the regulation of paraglider flying activities by the Civil Aviation Department:

Unable to identify the identity of the pilot involved, it is difficult to enforce the law against illegal acts

The Office of the Commissioner found that the Civil Aviation Department only reviewed the regulation of local paragliding activities in 2018, and completed the formulation of a permit application mechanism for local paraglider aviation service providers in October 2019. However, the lack of proper regulation and monitoring will weaken the permit system. effectiveness.

In addition, people currently conducting paragliding activities in Hong Kong are not required to register with the authorities or any agency, nor do they need to make pre-flight planning or post-flight records. Under normal circumstances, the Civil Aviation Department cannot identify the pilot involved, let alone when a suspected pilot is found. Take further follow-up or enforcement action to the relevant person after the illegal act.

The report pointed out that between 2017 and September 2020, the CAD received a total of 15 complaints about paragliding activities.

One of the complainants was the person in charge of a private farm. Because paraglider pilots had repeatedly landed on his farm by mistake and destroyed the farm facilities, the complainant sought help from the Civil Aviation Department and the police.

The Civil Aviation Department obtained the details of the incident from the complainant, including photos showing the identity of the pilot and the circumstances of his accidental landing on the farm.

After referring the information to the police, the department was informed that the case was classified as a "dispute" and no further investigation was conducted.

The Civil Aviation Department tried to verify the identity of the pilots involved in the incident through local paragliding organizations, but to no avail. In the end, it could only advise those involved in paragliding activities through relevant organizations.

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Investigating suspected illegal acts must be intensified

The Office of the Commissioner pointed out that serious aviation accidents or accidents involving paragliding are followed up by the Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Agency; as for other paragliding accidents or accidents, the Civil Aviation Department will refer them to the Hong Kong Paraglider Association, a major local paragliding organization, for investigation.

The Civil Aviation Department will also refer relevant cases of suspected violations of the law to the Hong Kong Police Force for follow-up.

However, the purpose of the investigation by civil aviation accident investigation agencies and associations is to find out the accident and the cause of the accident in an uncritical manner, so as to avoid the accident or accident from happening again, rather than to investigate the illegal paraglider pilots.

The Office of the Commissioner believes that the association is only a non-governmental organization, and its investigation has not been authorized by laws or government authorities, nor will it examine whether the pilots involved have violated any laws applicable to paragliding activities, and will not help prevent violations of laws applicable to paragliding activities. .

The report pointed out that the Civil Aviation Department had received a report that a paraglider instructor was suspected of providing paid services without a license, and the identity of the instructor was known through online advertising materials, so it took the initiative to write to him to reiterate the legal requirements and ask him to confirm Whether related allegations are involved, but the instructor does not admit responsibility.

The CAD subsequently received a similar complaint involving the instructor and wrote to him again, but received no reply.

Although the Civil Aviation Department continued to try to contact the instructor involved through its paragliding organization, but he did not respond positively, the Department was ultimately unable to take further action.

In a related case, the paraglider instructor was suspected of providing remuneration services without a license. Although the instructor in question admitted that he had provided paraglider flight instruction services, he pleaded that the Civil Aviation Department had never indicated that the paraglider provided remuneration services in the past. The teaching service is illegal and there is no record of further follow-up action by the CAD.

Consideration should be given to extending the validity of the license

The Civil Aviation Department has set the validity period of a permit to provide paid services by paragliders to be no longer than six months.

Considering that the department needs to examine in detail the details of the "flight operation procedures" and supporting documents provided by the applicant when approving each new application and renewal application for a permit, as well as assessing the applicant's demonstration of the relevant paragliding activities to the department. In practice, reviewing the certificate holders' flight records and other supporting documents every six months can effectively monitor the service performance of the certificate holders, but it also brings a certain degree of administrative cost to the certificate holders and the CAD itself.

Publicity and education must be strengthened

Finally, the Civil Aviation Department only issued the first permit under the permit system at the end of 2020. It can be expected that the industry and the public do not know much about this system.

The Office of The Ombudsman initiated an investigation into the Civil Aviation Department's regulation of paragliding activities.

(Provided by the Office of The Ombudsman)

Put forward eight improvement suggestions, including the promotion of real-name registration

The Ombudsman made eight improvement recommendations to the CAD, including:

1. Study through legislation or formulate administrative measures to require people who conduct paragliding activities in Hong Kong to register with their real names in advance, and discuss with the Hong Kong Paragliding Organization and relevant stakeholders to formulate a real-name registration system suitable for the local paragliding industry;

2. Require pilots to register the paraglider flying equipment they use, and clearly display the relevant registration number in a conspicuous place on the flying equipment or personal equipment;

3. Study through legislation or formulate administrative measures to authorize appropriate local paraglider organizations to manage and develop paragliding activities more systematically, including setting safety standards, qualification certification and accident investigation, etc.;

4. Consider formally authorizing or appointing the Association (or other organization that the Division deems appropriate to undertake such investigations) and provide specific guidance, including a description of the purpose of the investigation and the matters to be investigated;

5. Before referring complaints about illegal paragliding activities or services to the Police for follow-up, the case data should be collated and analyzed from the professional perspective of civil aviation safety;

6. Consider allocating additional resources to strengthen the enforcement of the licensing system;

7. Strengthen the publicity of the licensing system to enhance public awareness of the content of the system;

8. Study the extension of the validity period of the approved renewal license to more than six months, reduce the administrative cost of the licensee, and encourage more practitioners who intend to provide paraglider aviation services to apply for the license.

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