Argentine tourist and Brazilian instructor killed in hang gliding crash in Rio de Janeiro

The crash happened on Monday, November 2, 2026, on São Conrado beach in Rio de Janeiro, a few hundred metres from the landing area below the Pedra Bonita launch ramp. Local reports name the two people killed as Adrián Guillermo Arismendi, a 26-year-old Argentine from Puerto Deseado in Santa Cruz province, on his first hang-glider flight during a trip with a group of friends, and Luiz Eduardo Rodrigues dos Santos, a 45-year-old Brazilian instructor who had been flying with passengers at a local club for about a year. Both were taken to Hospital Municipal Miguel Couto and died there.

Onboard and nearby security cameras recorded the final seconds. Coverage of that footage says the glider was on its final approach at low height when it turned sharply toward the shoreline and struck a concrete ramp or wall. Some early posts called it a paragliding accident, but Brazilian authorities and local media describe a hang glider.

The post's line that the investigation points to pilot error and that weather was good is not something I could confirm in the reporting I found. The Civil Police have opened an inquiry. Its open question is why the instructor turned so low, and it has asked the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) about the rules for two-person flights. One police official, citing other pilots' accounts, reportedly described it as a manoeuvring error by the instructor, which is a preliminary view, not a finding.

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