Cause of accident unclear

Small plane crash: passenger compartment discovered

Part of the wreckage of the crashed small plane.

(Bild: Bernd Hofmeister)

In the case of the small plane that crashed in Brandnertal on Monday, the passenger compartment was found on Tuesday morning. The pilot's body was also recovered - the deceased was a 59-year-old Italian. There are also growing indications that the plane exploded in the air. 

According to the police, the crash site is southwest of the Mottakopf (2176 meters) at around 1500 meters above sea level. One person is believed to be in the passenger compartment, but there is no information about their condition at this stage.

(Bild: Bernd Hofmeister)

Part of the wreckage of the crashed small plane.

(Bild: Bernd Hofmeister)

Difficult search
After a major search operation for the passenger compartment on Monday in dense fog was unsuccessful, a helicopter was able to take off on Tuesday in better weather conditions. The sighting flight quickly led to success.

Forensics carried out
"The accident investigators and members of the air accident commission are currently being brought to the crash site", said the police shortly after 9 am. While members of the Alpine Police were securing evidence at the crash site, which was very difficult to access, the Feldkirch public prosecutor's office appointed an aviation expert to investigate the accident.

Initial speculations regarding the cause of the accident
There is still no conclusive result regarding the exact cause of the accident. However, the initial findings of the air accident commission suggest that the aircraft broke up or exploded while still in the air. This theory is supported by the fact that the wreckage was scattered over an area of more than 6000 square meters. Data from Austro Control also shows that the pilot initially wanted to fly over the area at a high altitude - but then the plane suddenly lost altitude rapidly above the crash site and crashed.

On Tuesday afternoon, the individual parts of the plane were recovered by helicopter and flown down into the valley. There they will be examined in detail by the expert and the commission members over the next few days.

Parts of the pilot's body recovered
In the course of the afternoon, the remains of the pilot were finally identified and recovered. The man is a 59-year-old Italian citizen - no other people were on board at the time of the accident.