France’s Federation of Free Flight Chooses Globalstar SPOT Gen4 to Safeguard Trainees and Elite Athletes

Free flight activities involve an individual piloting an ultra-light plane or other non-motorised airborne apparatus. These high-risk activities, for leisure or competitions, typically involve the participant jumping off a cliff or high mountain with the aim of landing safely in a pre-designated, usually remote, location.

Julien Garcia, Sport Technical Advisor at FFVL, explains the fundamental need for satellite-enabled safety for these inherently risky sports, “Our members engage in free flying all over France, in the Alps and Pyrenees, and some elite flyers compete worldwide. The reality is that sometimes people go missing and finding them can be extremely difficult. We have responsibility to advise our members on safety; but moreover, in the activities where we have management authority, we absolutely must ensure safety as much as we can.”

FFVL is a French government-recognised non-profit association which represents and manages six main free flight activities and associated disciplines: hang gliding, paragliding, snow kite and land kite, speed riding, kite flying and boomerang. FFVL organises, directs, and promotes the practice of free flight nationally and internationally.

FFVL now encourages all its 40,000 members to carry SPOT devices, and its members can benefit from service discounts through the summer. It has organisational, government-mandated responsibility for France’s officially sanctioned competitions and for the country’s competitors at international events, such as the Paragliding World Cup.