Three serious paragliding accidents on Tuesday in Tyrolean ski resorts left one dead and two injured. While two young men were taken to hospital in Oetz and Fulpmes, all help came too late for a 38-year-old German in Hopfgarten im Brixental (Kitzbüheler district).
The 38-year-old started on Tuesday around 3.40 pm from the Hohe Salve in the municipality of Hopfgarten im Brixental at about 1800 meters in a southerly direction. About halfway through the flight, the pilot wanted to perform a so-called spiral flight. However, he could not finish this in time, the reason for this is unclear.
The German managed to deploy the emergency parachute, but he could no longer prevent a collision: near the middle station, he hit the ski slope with full force. The alerted piste rescue immediately started CPR, later the crew of the emergency helicopter took over. But in vain: the paraglider pilot died at the scene of the accident.
28-year-old and 25-year-old with helicopter in clinic
Also in Fulpmes and Oetz two men crashed with their paragliders. A 28-year-old resident started in the Schlick 2000 ski area (Innsbruck-Land district) in the early afternoon from the Kreuzjoch in the direction of the landing site in Fulpmes. He had only been airborne for a few minutes when the paraglider was caught in a strong gust of wind. The Austrian lost control of the wheel and fell 15 meters down steep, rocky terrain, injuring his spine. The emergency helicopter rescued the 28-year-old with a rope and flew him to the clinic in Innsbruck.
Half an hour later, another accident happened in the Hochoetz ski area (Imst district). This time, a 25-year-old Austrian’s paraglider suddenly collapsed at 2,900 meters above sea level and got stuck. To make matters worse, the pilot got a hand in the lines. He lost control and was unable to pull the reserve parachute, causing him to fall 8,000 feet (2,250 m) into steep terrain. A second paraglider made the emergency call and the 25-year-old was also injured and flown to the clinic.
Source: Krone
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