THIS is the dramatic moment a hang gliding instructor and passenger plunge headfirst into a concrete ramp.
Luiz Eduardo Rodrigues dos Santos, 45, and tourist Adrian Guillermo Arismendi, 26, were both killed following the fall in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Shocking footage showed the two men smiling moments before the horror crash on Sao Conrado beach on Monday.
Luiz appears to take a low turn causing the glider wing to clip the sand.
The duo then hurtle into the eight foot concrete wall separating the board walk and the beach.
A ground-mounted security camera shows horrified onlookers as the aircraft makes a steep plunge towards the beach.
Emergency crews and a specialist air ambulance unit rushed to the scene, but neither man could be saved and both died in hospital.
Gliding instructor Luiz had a decade of experience flying with the Sao Conrado Free Flight Club, but only qualified as an instructor a year earlier.
The president of the club, Bruno Menescal, said weather conditions were favourable and blamed the instructor for the crash.
He said: “According to the pilots who were there and witnessed the accident, it was pilot error. A turn at low altitude, a misjudgement.
“It’s the kind of thing that leaves no room for mistakes. He made a mistake and hit hard.
“If they had hit the sand, they probably wouldn’t have suffered such serious consequences, but they struck the access ramp.”
Adrian, who had been holidaying from Puerto Deseado in Argentina, suffered multiple traumatic injuries before succumbing in hospital.
It was the tourist’s first time hang gliding – having arrived in Rio the previous day with a group of fellow thrill seekers.
One of the group had also been hang gliding but was not present at the time of the disastrous collision.
All hang gliding and paragliding activities in the Sao Conrado area have been suspended indefinitely following the tragedy.
The precise cause of the crash remains under investigation.
