Graham Hoal

[ebluesky 0]

Didn't know him personally, but friends are quite saddened by this... he was, apparently, a wonderful guy.


Parachutist dives to his death
22/01/2004 09:31 - (SA)
Candice Swarts and Malixole Gwatyu


Cape Town - An internationally renowned Cape Town parachutist died in a freak accident during the filming of an advertisement on Wednesday.

Graham Hoal collided with a moving truck while doing a parachute stunt during the filming of a beer ad at the Theewaterkloof Dam near Villiersdorp.

The 50-year old Hoal was airlifted to the Vergelegen MediClinic in Somerset West, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Barry Munchick, managing director of Velocity Films, said the jump was not particularly difficult for a parachutist of Hoal's calibre. Preliminary reports indicated that a sudden change in wind direction caused the accident.

Craig Ginsberg of The Stunt Company, who co-ordinated the jump, said the ad was supposed to depict a parachutist whose lines get entangled with a beer truck, upon which the driver would bring the vehicle to a halt and share a beer with the parachutist.

A stunt co-ordinator, who was in charge of safety precautions on the set, gave the final okay for the jump. Tests proved that wind speeds were within safe limits.

Hoal was one of the country's most experienced paragliders.

He was the first South African to reach the North Pole when he landed there by parachute in 1995.

He also held the record for the longest glide. Parachutists doing this variation of the sport wear specially designed webbed suits to help them glide further.

[sangiro 4]

Quote

... he was, apparently, a wonderful guy

Graham was indeed a wonderful guy and a good friend. He'll be missed.

The Incidents Forum discussion can be found here.

Safe swoops
Sangiro

[chuteless 1]

Im very sorry to hear of this tragedy. Ive done many beer commercials (never tasted the stuff) and I know how things can sometimes go wrong.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Its very sad to lose a guy like that.

Bill Cole D-41

[jari 0]

Graham was a wonderful person, a friend and one of the first South African birdmen. I had an opportunity to work with him on the project to fly from Baffin Island to mainland a few years ago. Graham showed the best South African hospitality and he will be missed by me and everybody else here at BirdMan.

Fly in peace Graham.

Your friend,

Jari

"Hey, don't be afraid, ever. Because, it's just a ride."

[johnny1488 1]

I met a south african at the ranch this year when he was doing the aff course. His name was graham and he was from cape town. I believe he was pretty involved in the DZ. Does anyone know where I can find a picture of graham hoal?

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[Tonto 1]

PM'd you, but then googled it and found one.

He always knew what made him happy, and that's the way I remember him.

I recall a night at a DZ about 10 years ago, Skydive Africa, about 200km outside Johannesburg and near a Casino. These were pre lottery days, and the Casino had a "dream machine" jackpot which stood at about R3,6 million. (Then about $1 million.)

We were all talking about what we'd do if we won.
There were the usual "I'd buy a Ferrari" stories, I wanted new gear and a tent and a ticket to Perris.
When it was Grahams turn, he said, "Well, first... I'd pay my debts." There was an impossibly long pause... Someone asked "And the rest?"

Grahams reply?

"They'd just have to wait..."

Cool guy.

t

It's the year of the Pig.