Hang glider who died lacked experience

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A man who died hang gliding over Packsaddle Mountain in Kingsland Wednesday night had been making similar jumps for months but had not reportedly completely mastered the hobby.

John Seward, 26, died after his glider came crashing down.

A group of gliders he was jumping with said it looked like he made a simple pilot’s error while trying to make a turn. Friends said Seward was new to the sport but comfortable gliding.

“He felt very comfortable. He had it down,” said friend and Dell co-worker John Sieber. “He definitely did not feel like he was in danger.”

The computer engineer had recently traveled to Brazil to go hang gliding and was making up to two- to three jumps a week at Packsaddle Mountain and other locations.