Pilot showed 'total disregard' for safety in crash that killed Munster coach Greig Oliver

Greig Oliver. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Former Munster Rugby coach Greig Oliver was killed in a horrific paragliding crash in South Africa by a pilot who showed a “total disregard” for his passengers's safety, an official report said.

The investigation into the South African pilot said he put Mr Oliver through a series of quick dynamic acrobatic turns the canopy was not certified for. The 22-year-old pilot’s GoPro camera captured the father-of-two screaming out “Jesus”.

Mr Oliver, 58, was in Cape Town to watch his son play rugby for Ireland Under 20s. Mr Oliver, a former Scotland international, was said to be “nervous and tense” before take-off.

Just moments before he yelled out in panic the pilot quipped: “It’s going to get crazy!” 

He then took the Duet Two paraglider through a series of high-speed acrobatic “wing overs” it had never been designed to carry out as it spiralled downwards quickly.

Moments later the pilot, who was assessed to have not been watching where he was going, slammed his paraglider into another glider, collapsing the canopy.

Rescue swimmers and paramedics at Rocklands Beach, Cape Town, who had recovered the body of former Scottish scrum half Greig Oliver, 58.

Mr Oliver and the pilot plunged from 250 metres towards the Atlantic Ocean 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 Mr 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 it to Rocklands Beach, Mr Oliver was trapped, strapped into his seat and harness. He was being swept towards rocks where he became wedged.

The 30-page report into the accident last July at Sea Point promenade said Mr Oliver was put in such a position to make the crash “unsurvivable”. It was not until the NSRI lifeboat arrived at the scene that swimmers were deployed and were able to release him from his harness and straps.

Mr Oliver had been trapped below the water line when he was retrieved in the water, buffeted by a heavy swell and 7ft waves.

The pair had crash landed 114m from shore. The collision took place at 4.24pm in perfect flying conditions 12 minutes into what should have been a 15-minute flight.

Mr Oliver was lifted onto rocks and CPR was carried out. He was declared dead at the scene and his body was taken away by police. Despite the tragedy happening over eight months ago, the South African authorities have been unable to provide an autopsy or toxicology results on Mr Oliver.

It means the actual cause of death remains officially unknown leading the investigation to conclude that Mr Oliver was fatally injured during the accident sequence.

If the autopsy results from the accident in July last year become available and reveal a different cause of death the investigation may have to be re-opened.

Mr Oliver was the elite performance officer at Munster and was in Cape Town to support his son Jack, 20, who was playing for Ireland at the World Rugby U20 Championship.

Greig Oliver with his son, Jack, in 2021.

Jack was unable to continue with the squad and flew home with his mother as his father’s body was repatriated for the funeral in Limerick.

Mr Oliver, a former scrum-half, played in two Rugby World Cups for Scotland before moving into coaching — first in Scotland and then moving to Ireland in 2007.

On July 3 last year, Mr Oliver and other parents who had flown out to support their sons had decided on the trip to Cape Town to paraglide off Signal Hill. The 15-minute flight was due to see them take off in the afternoon in tandem harnesses strapped to a pilot and land on the scenic Sea Point promenade.

The report says that when the paraglider impacted the water, both the pilot and passenger were still harnessed into their seats but the pilot freed just himself.

It continues: “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. However, the student was caught between the rocks and could not free himself.

This is the sign that marks the launch spot at Signal Hill where former rugby international Greig Oliver, 58, took off only to be involved in a mid-air collision between two tandem paragliders which led to his death.

“Additionally 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 and he remained trapped.

“He was declared fatally injured at the accident scene.

“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 introduction flight.

“The manoeuvres were unnecessary and unsafe and the flight instructor lost control of the paraglider and it crashed into the ocean and the student was fatally injured.

“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” it said.

The report was issued by the Accident and Incident Investigation Division of the SA Civil Aviation Authority.

Mr Oliver's death was the first ever in tandem paragliding off Signal Hill and Lions Head where six companies organise the jumps in good weather down to Sea Point.

In June 2023, the Ireland team wore black armbands and observe a minute's silence in memory of the late Munster Rugby elite performance officer Greig Oliver. File picture: Nic Bothma/Sportsfile

Since 2020, three paragliders flying solo off Lion’s Head mountain, which adjoins Signal Hill but is higher, have been killed but there have been no tandem deaths before Mr Oliver.

The paraglider pilot in the incident had 380 hours of flight time on the paraglider and was properly licensed and first aid qualified but it is not known if he is still employed.

In light of the report, the South African Civil Aviation Authority can now decide whether to suspend or revoke the pilots licence but legal action is a civil or criminal matter.

The South African Police said they will now review the accident report and decide if an inquest will be held when they have the results from the back log of post mortems.

Mr Oliver was born in Hawick, Scotland, and played for Hawick RFC before being capped by his country three times and playing in two world cups.

On retirement, he ran the Scottish Rugby Academy for 13 years, was head coach of Scotland Under 20s and coached Hawick RFC to back-to-back Premiership titles.

In 2007, he moved to his wife Fiona’s home town of Limerick and was on the staff of local club Garryowen RFC until becoming elite performance officer at Munster RFC.