Texas adventurer is killed in hang glider crash in Mexico on last day before returning to US

A Texas father of two who has traveled the globe in search adventures was killed in a hang gliding accident in central Mexico just before he was set to return home.

Sean Marmion, 53, of Houston, died Sunday after he had taken off for a solo flight from El Peñón, a renowned world-class hang gliding venue in Temascaltepec, State of Mexico.

Police sources told local Mexican news outlet Reforma that Marmion was reportedly taking lessons and was unable to properly elevate the glider before he crashed.

‘According to what some witnesses mentioned, the pilot’s aircraft fell to the ground after making a 180-degree turn,’ the law enforcement sources said.

‘I think these things work by colliding cold air with hot air, and apparently at the time it went down there wasn’t enough hot air and the hang glider couldn’t get up anymore.’

Authorities investigate the accident site where Texas resident Sean Marmion crashed while hang gliding in Temascaltepec, Mexico, on Sunday

Red Cross and Temascaltepec paramedics arrived at the crash site and requested a helicopter to airlift Marmion to a nearby hospital before they noticed that he did not have any vital signs and declared dead on the scene.

On January 30, he posted a video on Facebook of him completing a successful solo hang-gliding flight from the Mexican site, with the message: ‘A great day flying in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.’ 

He also posted a still image on Saturday, the day before his death, from a camera mounted to the glider during a solo flight. 

The site of the crash in Valle de Bravo draws hang-gliding enthusiasts and experts from all over the world for the annual El Penon Classic, which is scheduled for the end of this month.  

Marmion, who was born in the US, attended secondary school on the Isle of Portland in England and graduated college from San Francisco State University. 

He worked as an independent sales rep for outdoor sporting goods companies and had traveled to all corners of the globe.

In the past two years, Marmion  visited Turkey, Tanzania, India, Argentina, Uruguay, Columbia, Chile, Ecuador and Easter Island. 

Sean Marmion shared a photo of a hang gliding flight Saturday, the day before he died in tragic accident while taking a lesson, according to police sources in Mexico

Still image of a video shared by Sean Marmion’s hang gliding flight in Mexico a week before he died 

Sean Marmion flashed a smile after getting up and close with white sharks (below) while scuba diving in Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, in October 2021 

 

He also posted thrill-seeking images of him scuba-diving with white sharks in Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, last October, and hiking in the Cascade Mountains in  Washington state last May.

Suzanne Marmion confirmed on Facebook on Monday that her brother’s hang gliding outing was supposed to be his last before he was scheduled to go back home.

‘It is with a breaking heart that I share with all who knew and loved him that my brother Sean Marmion died Sunday in a hang gliding accident in Valle de Bravo, Mexico,’ she wrote. 

‘It was his last morning flying before coming home. Details to come on the celebration of life we know he would want.’

Sean Marmion climbed Cascade Mountains in Washington state last August