The Accident and Incident Investigations Division (AIID) reports says that there was no logical explanation for a paragliding pilot’s movements on July 3 2023, that resulted in the death of a 58-year old British visitor.
The deceased tourist, Greig Oliver, was in town to watch his son Jack play for Ireland in the World Rugby Under-20 Championships. The Atlantic Sun reported about the fatality (“Man dies in tandem paragliding crash”, July 6 2023).
An eyewitness stated that he saw three paragliders and noticed that a paraglider (with Mr Oliver and the 22-year old pilot referred to as Paraglider 1 in the report) appeared to be in a spiral manoeuvre before it collided with another paraglider, also with two occupants, from behind.
The investigation, requested by the South African Hang-Gliding and Paragliding Association (SAHPA), found that Paraglider 1 sustained substantial damage and some of its suspension lines had broken off during the accident sequence.
“There is no logical explanation as to why Paraglider 1 flight instructor switched from a normal flight and opted to perform aerobatic manoeuvres during an introductory flight. The manoeuvres were deemed unnecessary and unsafe, which contradicted the roles and responsibilities of instructors and tandem pilots as contained in the SAHPA manual of procedures,” the AIID statement says.
The investigation adds that Paraglider 1 was not fitted with a flight recorder; but that the flight instructor had a 360 degree portable Go-Pro digital camera secured to a stick and had captured the take-off and the sequence of events leading up to the accident.
“Paraglider 1 flight instructor had freed himself from the paraglider seat harness and had swum to the shore; he sustained minor injuries. Paraglider 1 student pilot (Mr Oliver) was still trapped beneath the paraglider canopy under water and still harnessed to his seat; he remained trapped between the rocks and was unconscious. He was later freed from the paraglider by the NSRI personnel who carried him over to the rocks to administer first aid, but they were not successful.”
According to the 30-page AIID report, CCTV video footage was examined, and a post-mortem examination was performed on Mr Oliver and the results were not available when the report was completed.
“The flight instructor on Paraglider 1 was heard informing the student pilot that things were going to get quite crazy. The student pilot appeared not to have knowledge of what the flight instructor meant and what his intentions were.
“The above statement by the flight instructor contradicted the roles and responsibilities of instructors and tandem pilots contained in the SAHPA manual of procedures (outlined in 1.18.2 and 1.18.3 of this report).
“From the video, Paraglider 1 flight instructor did not appear to conduct a comprehensive scan of the air space around him. The flight instructor executed the wing over manoeuvres which the paraglider model was not designed to perform.
“There was no evidence of the student pilot being willing to undertake the acrobatic/aerobatic manoeuvres,” the report says. “The student pilot was fatally injured during the accident sequence. Should the post-mortem examination results reveal a different cause of death, this information will be considered new and will necessitate the reopening of this investigation,” the report says.
“The SAHPA Committee is still considering the report,” said SAHPA chairman Louis Stanford, “and we will be meeting next week to deliberate the findings and discuss next steps.”
