Munster coach died in paraglide tragedy where pilot showed ‘total disregard’ for tandem passenger
Greig Oliver was in South Africa to watch his son play rugby for Ireland under-20s
THE FINAL horrific moments of Munster rugby coach Greig Oliver, who died after a paragliding accident in South Africa, have been revealed in a damning Air Accident Investigation report.
The father of two had taken a tandem paraglide in South Africa in July 2023, with the report showing that the pilot showed a ‘total disregard’ for his passenger’s safety.
The 30-page report into the accident at Sea Point promenade said Oliver was put in such a position to make the crash ‘unsurvivable’.
It stated that the South African flier, age 22, put Oliver through a series of quick dynamic acrobatic turns the canopy was not certified for. It also found the manoeuvres performed by the flight instructor ‘were not planned, and were deemed reckless and unsafe’.
There was no evidence of the pilot attempting to rescue Oliver when they crashed into the water after colliding with another paraglider. The pilot’s Go Pro camera captured Mr Oliver, who was in Cape Town to watch his son play rugby for Ireland U20s, screaming out ‘Jesus!’ Moments before the terrified former Scotland scrum half – said to be ‘nervous and tense’ before takeoff – yelled out in panic, the pilot quipped: ‘It’s going to get crazy!’
He took the Duet Two paraglider through a series of high-speed acrobatic ‘wingovers’ it had never been designed to carry out as it spiralled downwards quickly.
Moments later the pilot, who was not watching where he was going, slammed his paraglider into another glider, collapsing the canopy. Oliver, 58, and the pilot plunged from 250 metres up towards the Atlantic Ocean below, as the nylon wing ripped open and a number of vital rigging lines were severed. The report said the instructor deployed the emergency parachute, which inflated before they hit the water and released his own harness and swam himself back to safety.
He left stricken Oliver trapped in his harness, unable to free himself and swamped with the weight of the chute and rigging being washed over his body, pushing him under.
As the pilot made his way safely to Rocklands Beach, Oliver was trapped, helplessly strapped into his seat and harness, being swept towards rocks where he got wedged.
It was not until the National Sea Rescue Institute lifeboat arrived at the scene that swimmers were able to release him. The former top player and coach had been trapped below the water line when he was retrieved lifeless from the freezing Atlantic waters buffeted by a heavy swell and 7ft waves.
The pair had crash-landed 114 metres from shore and the collision took place at 4.24pm in perfect flying conditions, 12 minutes into what should have been a 15minute joy-ride. Oliver was lifted onto rocks and CPR was carried out but he was declared dead at the scene. The South African authorities have been unable to provide post-mortem or toxicology results on Oliver. The actual cause of death remains officially unknown, leading the investigation to conclude themselves that Oliver was fatally injured during the accident sequence. If the post-mortem results from the accident become available and reveal a different cause of death, the investigation may have to be reopened.
Oliver was the elite performance officer at Munster rugby club and was in Cape Town to support son Jack, 20, playing for Ireland at the World Rugby U20 Championship. He had played in two Rugby World Cups for Scotland before starting in coaching, moving to Ireland in 2007.
On July 3 last, Oliver and other rugby parents who had flown out to support their sons had decided on a dare-devil trip to Cape Town to paraglide off Signal Hill. They were due to take off on the 15minute flight in the afternoon in tandem harnesses strapped to a pilot and land on scenic Sea Point promenade. But disaster struck as three paragliders that had taken off from the 1,148 feet summit of Signal Hill in light three-knot winds were seen by a cyclist nearing the landing zone, who called the NSRI as they crashed into the sea.
The report says that when the paraglider impacted the water both the pilot and passenger were harnessed into their seats but the pilot freed just himself.
‘There was no evidence of the instructor retracting the wing or rescuing the student pilot or assisting him to unclip or release his seat safety buckle. The flight instructor unclipped himself from the seat harness and swam to the shore. The student could not free himself. He was not in possession of a hook knife that would have enabled him to cut himself free from the suspension lines and wing fabric.’
‘Paraglider 1 flight instructor displayed a total disregard for the safe operation of a paraglider and displayed poor airmanship and did not adhere to procedures,’ the report said. The report was issued by the Accident and Incident Investigation Division of the SA Civil Aviation Authority and was published yesterday, eight months after the crash.
The crash was ‘unsurvivable’ ‘Oliver was left trapped’