During the 19th World Championship in Brazil 2025, one of our fellow pilots suffered a severe accident and after a courageous fight in the hospital, Bram Declercq from Team Belgium passed away on September 16, 2025.

We continue to offer our deepest condolences to his wife, and extend that to his family and friends and wish them strength in handling their loss.

This incident follows the tragic loss of Steve Penfold during the recent Hang gliding World event. CIVL and the entire pilot community remain committed to continuous learning and improvement in all aspects of the sport.

Fabio Loro, our Safety Officer, has already started leading the analysis of these recent competitions as with all Category 1 events. We look forward to constructive contributions and discussion from all interested pilots with Fabio’s safety analysis team, as well as in the CIVL Paragliding and Hang Gliding Committees, which are continuously tasked with finding ways to improve the sport . If you would like to join those efforts but aren’t already in the committee, please let Elena know (civl_comps@fai.org)

We intend to establish a new CIVL award in memory of Bram, Steve and all the other pilots we’ve lost, which may be granted once per year to the person who does the most to advance safety. This can be through equipment, technology, rules, competition processes, or anything that contributes significantly to making our sport safer.

Bill Hughes, on behalf of the CIVL Bureau