A 22-year-old tandem pilot in South Africa has been branded “reckless” following a mid-air collision that resulted in his passenger dying.
Scottish rugby coach Greig Oliver, 58, was in South Africa with his son as part of an under-20s rugby tour in July last year when he took a tandem flight from Signal Hill in Cape Town that ended in tragedy. The accident happened at about 4.24pm local time on 3 July 2023.
Source: CAASA
According to the accident report released this week from the South African Civil Aviation Authority the tandem pilot – who is only identified as a 22-year-old male with a total of 380 hours flight-time and is called “Pilot 1” in the report – was over the sea at about 800ft and had started to fly wingovers when he collided with a second tandem, briefly wrapping the second pilot and passenger with the glider.
Source: CAASA
While the second tandem pair, flown by a veteran 62-year-old pilot, went on to land safely and with no injury, Pilot 1’s wing was damaged in the collision and he deployed his tandem reserve. Seven seconds later both pilot and passenger landed under reserve in the ocean some 114m from shore.
While the tandem pilot then managed to release himself from his harness and get to shore, passenger Oliver was unable to free himself. He was later recovered by National Sea Rescue Institute personnel but was pronounced dead at the scene.
The report states: “The flight instructor unclipped himself from the seat harness and swam to the shore. However, the [passenger] was caught between the rocks and could not free himself from his seat harness. 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. He remained trapped to his seat harnesses and was declared fatally injured at the accident scene.”
Source: CAASA
The report condemns Pilot 1 for “reckless” flying. It states there was “no logical explanation” as to why he was flying wingovers, and notes that Pilot 1 did not appear to check he was in clear airspace before flying wingovers, and was not carrying a hook-knife. It says Pilot 1 “displayed a total disregard for the safe operation of a paraglider” and adds he “displayed poor airmanship”.
The report makes three recommendations, including that tandem pilots use quick-release karabiners and always carry a hook-knife. It notes there is a “grey area” in South Africa between tourists on “joy rides” and “registered student pilots” and recommends “clear regulations and guidelines detailing who fits the title/description of a passenger and a student pilot.”
Despite being a paying tourist passenger, Greig Oliver was registered as a “student pilot” for what should have been a 15-minute flight. Briefed for a tourist flight, not a training flight, the report states he can be heard in video footage shouting “Jesus!” in panic moments before the collision. Police confiscated all the GoPro data cards on the day of the accident.
Greig Oliver was a former Scotland rugby international who moved to Ireland in 2007. He was in South Africa with his son Jack as part of the World Rugby U20 world championship.
The report was issued by the Accident and Incident Investigations Division, South African Civil Aviation Authority.
In a statement the South African Hang and Paragliding Association stated: “In terms of the Civil Aviation Act, SAHPA may not disclose the identity of the pilot, nor speculate or offer an opinion on the facts described in the report.”
