At 2800 meters

Crashed Cessna apparently found

The first photo of the accident site.

(Bild: Polizei Tirol)

The wreckage of the Cessna that had been missing in Tyrol since Holy Saturday was found on Tuesday during a search flight with the police helicopter. Alpine police officers and investigators from the State Criminal Police Office were flown to the scene of the accident in the afternoon. The pilot's body was recovered.

As the "Krone" learned early Tuesday afternoon, the missing Cessna was discovered in the Stubai Alps, in the Schrankogel (Schrankar) area near the Amberger Hütte. "We were able to locate the wreckage at around 2800 meters above sea level," explains Walter Strolz, pilot of Libelle Tirol.

Search flight despite fog
"We took off again this morning on a search flight due to fog and still difficult flying conditions," says Strolz. The last sighting of the aircraft was made by witnesses in the area of the Winnebachseehütte near Gries in the Sulztal valley. "I flew into the valley north of the Schrankogel near the Amberger Hütte at low altitude," Strolz continues.

And indeed: the crew discovered "something blue and white" in the snow in the Schrankar valley north below the Schrankogel at an altitude of around 2,800 meters. It quickly became clear that it was the wreckage of the Cessna. "The plane had obviously crashed on the mountain, the pilot could not have survived the accident," says Walter Strolz. In fact, the police press office later announced that there was a dead body in the wreckage. An autopsy of the body was ordered.

The first photo of the accident site.

(Bild: Polizei Tirol)

Investigators flown to the accident site
On Tuesday afternoon, Alpine police and investigators were flown to the scene of the accident and the body was brought down to the valley. It was not yet clear when the wreckage would be recovered. Investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.

The wreckage was discovered in the Schrankogel area (center, seen from Sulztal) at 2800 meters above sea level. (archive picture)

(Bild: zoom.tirol)

Contact with the pilot broken off
On Saturday afternoon, the single-engine Cessna 172 disappeared from the radar and contact with the pilot, who was alone on board, was lost. The take-off had taken place in Urbe near Rome, the destination airfield would have been Kaufbeuren-Bad Wörishofen in the Allgäu region. Contact was lost at around 11.45 a.m. north-east of Sölden.

Last tip came from ski tourers
Search flights had to be repeatedly aborted until Tuesday due to adverse weather conditions. The last tip-off about the machine came from a group of ski tourers. They saw the machine in the Sellrain and Stubaital area. The machine was finally found in the area between Amberger Hütte, Franz-Senn-Hütte, Winnebachseehütte and Westfalenhaus.