Press
Mountain drama in Austria: A hang glider from Germany fell to his death on the Tyrolean Achensee. He had apparently made a tragic mistake.
Maurach am Achensee – The Achensee is probably one of the most beautiful lakes in Austria: Like a fjord, it stretches between the limestone mountains of the Rofan Mountains and the Karwendel. Hikers and winter sports enthusiasts enjoy the idyllic scenery – but aviation enthusiasts have also succumbed to the panorama. For a German hang glider, a tour over the lake ended fatally before it had even really begun.
Mountain rescuers speak of fatal mistake
The 53-year-old hang glider from the Fürstenfeldbruck district had taken the gondola and his kite up to the Erfurter Hütte on the Rofanbahn. There is a take-off platform for hang gliders and paragliders. Apparently the 53-year-old had made a serious mistake when jumping on July 5th: “There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the man had forgotten to hook himself onto the kite with the snap hook and the belt,” Martin Roner from the Maurach am Achensee mountain rescue service told IPPEN.MEDIA.
The pilot was unable to hold on to the handle of the kite by himself and fell about 30 meters into the depths shortly after takeoff. Witnesses called the emergency services. Roner: “We were alerted at the same time as the rescue helicopter.” A mountain rescue team took the gondola up the mountain and worked their way to the accident site from above, another from below. “The helicopter finally discovered the crashed kite in the forest,” Roner continues.
Dead man lay 50 meters from his aircraft in the mountain forest
When the mountain rescuers finally found the aircraft, there was no pilot to be seen. He was discovered a short time later about 50 meters further up. The pilot had fallen onto a rock and was probably killed instantly. The emergency doctor could do nothing for him. The dead man and his aircraft were eventually rescued by helicopter and brought down to the valley.
At the end of June, a hiker fell to his death in Sölden, also in Tyrol. A young German hiker fell to his death near the Grossglockner in June. A ski tourer caused a stir when he fell and dragged other summiteers down into the valley with him.
#Hang #glider #falls #death #Lake #Achensee #forgot #seat #belt