Man who died in tragic paragliding accident was former Scottish rugby player

The 58-year-old man who tragically died in a paragliding accident in Sea Point, South Africa, yesterday has been identified as former Scottish rugby scrum half Greig Oliver.

Greig was in SA to support his son Jack, who was due to start on the bench this week as reserve scrum-half for Ireland Under 20s.

Greig had paid £60 for the 15-minute glide from Signal Hill down to the beach below. But instead the tandem paragliding adventure ended in tragedy when his paraglider collided mid-air with another. The pilot and passenger from the second tandem paraglider were uninjured.

The pilot of Greig’s tandem paraglider deployed a reserve parachute and landed in the surf, about 200 or 300 metres off-shore of Sea Point Promenade, according to the NSRI. Whilst the pilot made it safely to shore, Greig was stuck in rocks in the water and had to be untangled from the paragliding gear. CPR was administered but he was sadly declared deceased.

It is believed that the Scottish rugby legend drowned after the freak paragliding accident.

According to the South African Hang-gliding and Paragliding Association (SAHPA), the two tandem pilots flying from Signal Hill collided mid-air.

SAHPA is mandated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to oversee the sports of paragliding and hang gliding and its South African chairman is Louis Stanford. He said:

”One pilot and his passenger landed safely while the second pilot used his reserve parachute and ended up in the water. We understand the passenger drowned.

“The other pilot with his passenger landed safely. The pilot, who landed in the water, was pulled out. The waves were quite strong at the time on Monday afternoon.

“A number of our pilots jumped into the water to try and rescue the tandem paraglider and a few of them also got mildly injured.”.

Stanford says this is the first tandem fatality in over two decades. He said:”Our condolences go out to the family.”

Eye witness account of paragliding tragedy

An eye-witness to the tragic accident said that the offshore wind at Cape Town was not strong but the Atlantic waves crashing into the promenade were large. He said:

“I was walking on the Sea Point Promenade, it was slightly windy, when I saw a paraglider over the water deploy his second parachute about 50m up and 50m into the sea.

“Both people fell into the water, and we all ran towards the wall. The waves were big, and the two guys were being bashed against the rocks.

“Eventually, the pilot released both chutes, and the two men remained on the rocks. After a while, 5 to 8 men jumped in to help.

“I called Netcare 911, who were there in about 8 minutes.

“The pilot was saved, but unfortunately, the tourist, a British man, drowned. We think possibly his harness jammed in the rocks. We will have to wait for the inquiry.”

Fellow parents, who were out in South Africa supporting the Ireland Under 20’s in the Under 20’s World Rugby Championships, had also joined the daredevil father-of-two for the short flight.

Half a dozen para-gliding companies share a runway at the top of Signal Hill where thrill seekers are strapped to a pilot and glide down to the promenade below at Sea Point.

The rugby legend’s party were taken from their hotel by coach to the car park at Signal Hill where they had pre-booked an afternoon flight from 4pm in perfect weather conditions.

The short flight gives the tandem passenger perfect views across Cape Town and to Table Mountain and Robben Island beyond, but tragedy happened when two pilots collided.

A former paraglider pilot, who wished not to be named, said:

“One of the two pilots had to release his main and deploy his reserve but unfortunately the tandem rider was killed.

“It is understood he hit the rocks and went into the water and had a heavy amount of the chute and harness still attached to him which had to be released by rescue swimmers.

“He appeared dead and CPR was used for some time by paramedics but he had already passed away and could not be saved.

“Accidents do happen off Lions Head and the rump of the lion Signal Hill, and a German solo pilot was killed in January this year but for pilots to hit each other is very rare indeed.

“The South African Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association have their own experts who will investigate what went wrong and will speak to both pilots about what had occurred.

“The winds were light and it was a cloudless day so it should have been an easy and pretty quick flight after take-off down to the landing spot outside the Winchester Hotel.”

A minute’s silence will take place today when Ireland Under 20s are due to play Fiji at the Dannie Craven stadium in Stellenbosch this afternoon, and at all the other championship fixtures.

Greig’s son Jack was due to start on the bench today as reserve scrum half for Ireland Under 20’s but the decision of whether he plays has been left by the team coach for him to decide.

Greig’s wife Fiona was also in Cape Town to cheer on their son. It is not known if she witnessed the tragedy, which took place at around 16h28 on Rocklands Beach.

Retired rugby champ Greig had become Munster coach after moving his family from Scotland to Ireland in 2007.

The flights off Signal Hill are described on paragliding websites as “bucket list” activities and fly all year-round weather permitting.

Stanford said:

“Normally these tandem operations are run safely in a strict set of parameters. This is a very sad accident and the Civil Aviation Authority will be investigating.”

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