Pilot died

Tragedy: Glider pilot crashes in the Karawanken mountains

The crashed glider in the exposed terrain in the Karawanken.

(Bild: LPD Kärnten)

A glider flight over the Karawanken mountains ended in tragedy on Saturday. At around 4.40 pm, Austro Control suddenly received an emergency signal.

A 56-year-old man from Klagenfurt wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather on the Whitsun weekend and set off on a glider flight from Klagenfurt Airport at around 1.30 p.m. on Saturday. "The pilot was alone in his glider. At around 4.40 p.m., he sent out a distress signal," the police report. "As the pilot could not be contacted despite several attempts, a search operation was launched."

Crash site at 1700 meters above sea level
Several police patrols from the Klagenfurt Land district police command, the Libelle police helicopter and the ÖAMTC C11 rescue helicopter set off on the search. "At around 8 p.m., the crew of the C11 was able to discover the crashed glider in a cirque on the north side of the Weinasch," the police continued. The crash site is a good 1700 meters above sea level in the Bärental valley.

Recovery had to be aborted
"The 56-year-old pilot was killed in the crash," confirmed the police. "According to the current state of the investigation, the man flew from Klagenfurt Airport over the Karawanken mountains into Slovenian airspace and crashed on his return flight on Austrian territory on the north side of the Weinasch mountain for unknown reasons." Recovery and investigation were called off for the time being on Saturday evening. "It was simply no longer possible to continue due to the onset of darkness and strong downdrafts," explains Christian Arnusch, head of the Ferlach mountain rescue team.

"The terrain at the crash site is very inhospitable, so it will probably take some time. The helicopters are now taking off, the Alpine Operations Unit will investigate the accident together with the Aircraft Accident Commission from Vienna," explained the police at around 7.30 am on Sunday. More detailed information could be available in the course of the morning.