When the shit hits the fan- are you covered?- Photo Rob Curran

NOTE TO ALL: This article has been MODIFIED as of February 15, 2025. MORE MAJOR CHANGES! PLEASE READ IN FULL. If you just want to get what you need, skip to here. This matrix lays it all out visually.

DISCLAIMER: I am writing this in an attempt to help our pilot community make sure they are covered both at home and abroad if they have an accident while flying (paragliding, speed flying, hangliding, or skydiving, wingsuit or basejump). I AM NOT AN EXPERT and these are only opinions based on my research. PLEASE do your own research and make sure what I’m recommending covers you. This is a subject that causes a lot of confusion and my hope is that this article will help you navigate these tricky waters. The recommendations I have made below are made to cover ANYONE, who resides ANYWHERE and is flying ANYWHERE- but please- DO YOUR RESEARCH! The costs of this coverage is a few bucks a day. An evacuation and repatriation to your home can easily soar into the 6 figures. Many injuries in free flight are spinal- just stabilizing a spinal injury even in 3rd world countries can quickly go well over $100,000 USD. Please don’t put this on your family or friends, and don’t be the fool who thinks “it’s not going to happen to me”- GET COVERED!

NONE of the recommendations below are a substitute for good health insurance. These are adjuncts designed to cover you when normal insurance doesn’t (eg when you travel). Make sure your own health insurance covers “high risk” sports like Paragliding and Hanggliding! This article does not attempt to cover this topic.

First it is VERY VERY IMPORTANT to understand the difference in kinds of coverage. Some cover medical, others cover search, others rescue/ repatriation. Some are specific to travel, some are domestic. If you fly here’s what you most likely need:

1. Coverage for search AND rescue/repatriation (not the same) if you hit your SOS on your InReach or SPOT (and more and more these days- using SAT coverage with your iPhone). More on this below.
2. Coverage for helicopter transport. Domestic IS DIFFERENT than INTERNATIONAL! More on this below.
3. Travel/Medical insurance and Search AND Rescue for when you are traveling. More on this below.

TRAVEL ABROAD:

Very few health insurance companies cover repatriation (ie you get hurt in a foreign country and want to get to a hospital on your own home turf) if you are injured. More concerning, most will definitely not cover you if you are hurt participating in human flight activities. There are now four options for international travel and “extreme sports” that I know of that work for anyone going anywhere (with some restrictions- it depends on where you call home, and where you are going- MAKE SURE TO READ THE FINE PRINT!) The one I have dealt with the most is the IMG Signature Travel Medical Insurance (DO NOT GET THE IMG PATRIOT- get the Signature, which that link takes you to), “SafeTrecker” covers HG and PG and covers amateur “competitions”, and World Nomads under their “Explorers” plan (also covers amateur “competitions”, but note I have recently heard complaints about them refusing to cover in-country hospital bills and instead force you to repatriate before getting any care- an obvious problem if you’ve had a back injury for example!), and finally Travelex with the “Ultimate” editions to cover extreme sports.

Benefits for IMG Signature travel insurance for NON-COMPETITION Travel (if you get hurt competing- use your own judgement, but just say you got hurt flying, there’s no need for details) has great coverage for a very fair price (this is my preferred choice as I know of many pilots who have used this coverage with success):

NOW importantly- these travel health insurance options DO NOT COVER SEARCH AND RESCUE and THEY DO NOT COVER REPATRIATION– they only cover in-country medical and travel.  UPDATE: Both World Nomads and SafeTrecker now offer a combined package, but I have not gone over them carefully enough to make a recommendation. YOU NEED EVACUATION/ REPATRIATION insurance! If you are injured and need to get home to have a surgery or get home to be with your loved ones for your recovery, Global Rescue is your best choice (NONE of the GARMIN (formerly GEOS) coverages other than their High Risk Benefit [see below] is available after the Garmin buyout in Jan 21′), and there is no longer the 100 mile restriction- it works ANYWHERE. Global Rescue has a $500,000 cap and they cover EVERYWHERE but the Antarctic and Arctic (Pakistan, India, etc. are covered). Either of these options cover evacuation AND medjet assist (ie professional medical support during transport) and are very reasonable ($329 a year, or you can just get your trip covered as a one-off). Global Rescue requires two-way communication with either the covered person, or with someone who is with the injured person (another reason to get an InReach!). Global Rescue is NOT Search and NOT rescue. Search and Rescue happens locally (ie sheriff, local SAR teams, our community, etc.). Once a victim is found and brought to a hospital that’s when Global Rescue kicks in. They are medical repatriation. PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENTATION to understand what they are and are not. If you’re in a jam- PRESS YOUR SOS regardless! 

VERY IMPORTANT: If you have an accident and need medical assistance immediately, get help through conventional channels first- ie call 911 in the US/North American, 112 in the EU, 999 in the UK, etc. THEN CALL or otherwise communicate with your provider as soon as possible. Please understand: INSURANCE COMPANIES WILL NOT PAY FOR MEDICAL AFTER THE FACT, and they will not pay for transport or medical that they have not authorized inside their network, but if a victim needs immediate medical attention, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT INSURANCE- get the victim to a hospital first and deal with insurance and payments as soon as you can. Leave your insurance details with your family at home, and make sure everyone in your group has the details as well. Try to transport to a larger hospital whenever possible and collect detailed receipts if paying up front by cash or credit card (but know that it’s unlikely to get reimbursed if you don’t get authorization up front). If the injury does not need immediate attention, contact your insurance company immediately, and let them handle all transport, medical and repatriation. Again, please read this document.

READ THIS!:

Summary- Get the GARMIN SAR HIGH RISK PLAN in case you hit your SOS. Get Global Rescue for repatriation. Get IMG SIGNATURE for non-comp medical (which is also standard travel insurance) OR World Nomads, DogTag Extreme, or Travelex. Or do like I do- IMG Signature and Global Rescue and don’t say anything more than “I got hurt flying.”

And then:

IF YOU PRESS YOUR SOS on your SPOT or InReach:

#1 thing to know about pressing your SOS: When you press your SOS on your InReach (SPOT is no longer in the IERCC system and is using their own so yet another reason to switch to InReach!) the IERCC (formerly GEOS, now Garmin) will be notified and will activate search and rescue through their many SAR partners regardless of where you are. So don’t hesitate- if you need help PRESS YOUR SOS! This is important- if you need SEARCH, this is BY FAR AND AWAY your best option- HIT THE SOS! If you have cell also call 911 or the appropriate emergency number in the country you are in, but HIT THE SOS!

#2 thing to know about pressing your SOS (if you are using InReach!): the IERCC will activate a search and rescue and get you to a hospital  REGARDLESS OF THE coverage you have. BUT- their standard SAR 100 plans DO NOT COVER PG OR HG! So- you could be in for a very large bill. GARMIN offers the “High Risk Benefit” for $299 a year, which covers most “extreme sports”, including HG AND PG. GET THIS! If you do not need to hit your SOS (ie no search is needed) but need MEDICAL repatriation from a foreign hospital to your home hospital contact Global Rescue or whomever you have for repatriation insurance by phone or email. Again- you need both- the High Risk Benefit through GARMIN in case you have to use your SOS, and Global Rescue or similar (Medivac, MedJet, etc.) for repatriation (and you’ll need IMG Signature or similar if you need medical attention in a foreign country unless your own health insurance covers you out of country, which most do not). IMPORTANT: if you have the Garmin High Risk benefit coverage, they will do a search and rescue even if you DO NOT hit your SOS (ie pilot is unresponsive, but a friend hits it, or contacts the IERCC by phone to initiate a search).

#3 thing to know about pressing your SOS: If you hit your SOS there is no “search” required, it will send your exact location, but only the IERCC will be notified. You can however add information to your emergency notes that might help your providers to be contacted:

In any doubt? HIT YOUR SOS!

FLYING DOMESTICALLY:

#1- Have good health insurance with NO free flight restrictions! Beyond the scope of this article. Do your homework. Now that Global Rescue works anywhere and they have removed the 100 mile rule- get their yearly coverage so you at least have repatriation covered.

One of our fellow pilots Bill Beninati works for Intermountain Life Flight and wanted me to make sure you all knew the following (most places have private or state helicopter rescue services, and membership in these are often very cheap. This is really just a show of good faith and highly recommended to become a member (ie Lifeflight, MedJet, etc.):

The most important message I put out to our UHGPGA members about Intermountain Life Flight is that we do search and rescue as a community service when we are requested by a county sheriff. These are the officials responsible for search and rescue in Utah. For example, we could conduct a helicopter search and a technical rescue – but there is no charge to the casualty from the point of rescue to the “trailhead”. In this context trailhead has an insurance definition but it amounts to about the same thing as what you view as the trailhead.  At the trailhead our role changes from rescue to medical transport.  At this point a conscious casualty can refuse care, go to care in their buddy’s car, take a ground ambulance, or go with us for a charge that is generally covered by medical insurance if they have this coverage, and directly billed to them if they don’t. For Intermountain Life Flight financial assistance is potentially available to those who truly can’t pay for medical transport, and we are part of a healthcare system that provides close to $300,000,000 in charity care every year. If the injured pilot is in critical condition obviously cost is not a consideration.  

I’d love to hear what you think of this and if you have any questions, comments or concerns please put them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to keep this article updated. Be safe everyone and see you soon at cloudbase!

Still confused? Here’s a flowchart to help you decide:

Free+Flight+Insurance+Decision+Tree