Greig Oliver death: Former Scottish rugby star killed in paragliding crash after pilot left him trapped under water

Greig Oliver during a Munster rugby squad training session. Photo / Getty Images

An investigation has revealed shocking details around the death of former Scottish rugby international Greig Oliver, who was killed in a horror paragliding accident.

The report found that the 58-year-old was killed by a pilot showing a “total disregard” for passenger safety and whose actions following the crash made it impossible for Oliver to survive.

Tragedy struck when the father of two, who was in South Africa supporting his son Jack playing for the Ireland under-20 squad, decided to take a paragliding trip with other parents in Cape Town on July 3 last year.

His paraglider collided mid-air with another and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. Oliver was pulled from the water and pronounced dead at the scene.

The release of the damning report by Air Accident Investigation SA Civil Aviation Authority has revealed that the 22-year-old South African pilot put the paragliding canopy he and Oliver were using through a series of acrobatic manoeuvres it was not designed to handle and labelled the crash “avoidable”.

Oliver was said to be “nervous and tense” before take-off and Go-Pro footage showed Oliver screaming out after the pilot commented: “It’s going to get crazy.”

The movements the pilot undertook have been noted as “reckless” and “unnecessary”. The pilot was also judged to have not been watching where he was going and moments later made contact with another glider.

High above the Atlantic the canopy collapsed and vital rigging lines were severed, Oliver and the pilot then began to plummet 250m downwards.

The report found the emergency parachute was deployed by the pilot, who then released his own harness and swam to safety once in the water. Oliver, trapped in his own harness and unable to free himself, was left in the water and swamped under the weight of the chute and rigging below the surface.

The 30-page report stated that Oliver was then swept towards the rocks and became wedged, put into such a position that his situation was “unsurvivable”.

It read: “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.”

A lifeboat was deployed and the team released Oliver from his harness. He was brought to shore and CPR performed but he was declared dead at the scene.

South African authorities have been unable to provide post-mortem or toxicology results since his death eight months ago and his official cause of death is unknown.