Scottish rugby international Greig Oliver left to die by ‘reckless’ paragliding instructor

A Scottish former rugby international was left to die in the sea by a “reckless” paragliding instructor after a mid-air crash in South Africa, an investigation has concluded.

Greig Oliver, 58, became trapped in his harness after his tandem paraglider, which was being piloted by a 22-year-old instructor, collided with another craft and plummeted more than 800ft into the ocean.

The official investigation into the tragedy, which happened on July 3 last year, found the pilot had been carrying out “reckless and unsafe” manoeuvres, and made no effort to save Oliver after the crash. Instead, he freed himself and swam to safety.

Oliver, a former Hawick scrum-half who won three caps for Scotland between 1987 and 1991, became swamped by the weight of his rigging and was swept on to rocks. He was eventually pulled from the water by swimmers but could not be saved.

The father of two worked as elite performance officer for Irish club Munster, and had been in South Africa to see his son, Jack, play for Ireland at the World Rugby U20 world championship.

The investigation report, issued by the South African aviation authorities, said the unnamed pilot, who it referred to as Paraglider 1, lost control and struck another craft, which was able to land safely.

On a GoPro camera recording, the instructor was heard saying: “It’s going to get crazy” before Oliver cried out “Jesus” in panic. He had paid £75 for a 15-minute flight off Rocklands Beach in Cape Town.

The report said: “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.”

Oliver was ‘caught between rocks’

It concluded the manoeuvres performed by the instructor were “‘reckless and unsafe”, with the situation becoming “unsurvivable” for Oliver.

The report  added: “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. 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.”

Oliver would have won more caps for Scotland had he not played in an era when replacements were only permitted due to injury, and the national side was blessed with other talented players in his position, such as Roy Laidlaw and Gary Armstrong.

He was an unused replacement for the full national side on several occasions, most memorably as a key figure in the 1990 squad that won the Grand Slam for Scotland for only the third time.

South African police will decide whether an inquest should be held.

Louis Stanford, the chairman of the South African Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, said: “What happened was a tragedy. With regard to civil or criminal charges or litigation, that is not a matter for us and I would suspect those decisions would come after an inquest held by a coroner.”