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#405879
I read the OZ Report "Other Recent News" web crawler daily. It pulls hang gliding and paragliding news from the media worldwide. In today's edition I found an ironic and tragic event that may or may not be a coincidence.

This week a paraglider flier, Richard Marriner, suffered a fatal accident at Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. Witnesses reported that "a freak gust of wind" made him plummet into the rocks below. The irony is that earlier this year his fellow flying partner, Josh Tingey, also suffered a fatal crash at the same site. His death was also called a "freak accident." Mr. Marriner had the unfortunate duty of collecting Mr. Tingey's belongs after his crash.

So two paragliding buddies and fellow members of the same club suffer fatal accidents at the same site within months of one another. Could this be more than "freak?" Is it a pattern? Is there something especially dangerous about this particular site?

Like all accidents, we fliers are acutely curious, because whatever happened to them could happen to us too. I checked the site out on Google Maps; it's a more or less conical hill, about 800 feet high, surrounded on three sides by ocean. Like any coastal site, it should be treated with respect, but otherwise nothing looked unduly treacherous that I could see. Launches looked open and multi-directional with plenty of beach to land on.

Is there anyone on this forum who's flown Mount Maunganui who can shed light on the conditions at this site and any particular hazards pilots should be vigilant for? Is it prone to strong winds or rotors? Is it a PG only site, or do HGs fly there too? Is there anything we can learn from this pair of similar crashes, or are they just a tragic coincidence?

"Tragic Link Between Paragliding Deaths"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12174396
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By lizzard
#405880
While i cant comment on the site mentioned i have flown a few coastal sites where there are thermal sources (usually black rocks ) surrounded by trees and in wind shadow .
When they let their mini thermal out ,due the large temperature difference they can be wire slappers.

Im sure that this is not new to most here but if conditions are just right they could be worse than normal.
Paragliders are good at scratching in light conditions which would be part of the equasion.

Just my opinion mind but i have not seen this discussed here before .