Daniel Lewis Morgan, a 42-year-old army medic from Cross Hands, died after a parakiting accident on Rhossili beach. An inquest at Swansea's Guildhall on Wednesday heard that on May 11, Mr Morgan and two friends visited Rhossili to take part in the air activity.
They met at 6.45pm, with weather conditions described as "perfect" for parakiting off the cliffs onto the beach below. Each of them successfully enjoyed a safe flight, and after they had landed, Mr Morgan chose to enjoy one more flight alone.
Accident and Response
The inquest heard that one of Mr Morgan's friends, a trained trauma medic with the armed forces, had been recording Mr Morgan's solo flight on his phone when he observed he had "stooped quite low", believing he had lost control of his canopy. He ran in Mr Morgan's direction and found him lying on the beach unconscious, believing his friend had sustained "catastrophic injuries".
A coastguard helicopter arrived at the scene and the rescue team started transporting Mr Morgan to Cardiff, but he died en-route.
Investigation Findings
Giving evidence on behalf of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Mark Shaw described the weather as "suitable for flying", but said "moderate turbulence" had been caused as a result of a northerly wind hitting the "west-facing craggy rocks", creating a "patch of mixed air."
It was heard how the parakite's right wing had collapsed, with the left-side remaining inflated, resulting in a turn to the right, giving Mr Morgan, who was five to 10m above the ground, "no time to react." The hearing was told his equipment had been in good condition at the time of the accident, and he had "good control of it".
Background and Conclusion
Mr Morgan's passion began in 2007 after he took part in a skydive. Inspired by his experience, he underwent formal training, including an accelerated freefall course. He went on to qualify as a parachute packer, a tandem camera flyer and an accelerated freefall instructor. By the end of 2017 he had completed more than 3,500 skydives, with 1,800 tandem, meaning he had responsibility for someone else's safety.
The inquest heard that during one skydive in 2011, his main parachute malfunctioned after it was deployed. He dealt with the emergency with professionalism, safely deploying its reserve and landing safely with the passenger. He moved onto base jumping and underwent jumps in Italy and Norway. In 2025 he underwent speed flying training in Bannau Brycheiniog, which the inquest heard was "his greatest passion", and that he would fly whenever weather conditions permitted.
His outlook on life was "if you're going to do it, you have to do it right", the inquest heard. His other talents included Brazilian jujitsu and his work as an electrician, which saw him named college student of the year after a four-year apprenticeship at Coleg Sir Gar and spend time working for his father's electrical company.
A postmortem report from pathologist Maurizio Brotto recorded the cause of death as multiple injuries. Senior coroner Aled Gruffydd found the loss of control was "a result of meteorological factors" and Mr Morgan's "low flying height". He gave a conclusion of accidental death.
