Experienced pilot dead
Deep mourning for entrepreneur after plane crash
Harald "Harry" Becker (83) was killed in an accident during a routine flight from Krems-Gneixendorf to Dobersberg (Lower Austria). While the background to the tragedy is still unclear, the grief in his home town of Weitra is immense.
He was considered one of the most experienced pilots in the Union-Fliegergruppe Waldviertel and flew his plane all over Europe. Now Harald "Harry" Becker is dead. Crashed! The extremely popular pensioner lost his life in the middle of his great passion.
It was Sunday at 3.30 pm when Austro Control alerted the emergency services. The crash sensor of a small aircraft had been triggered in the area of the Predigtstuhl near Groß-Siegharts in the district of Waidhofen an der Thaya. It was Becker's single-engine Flight Design CT.
An eyewitness who had noticed the crash from a distance had also called the emergency number. After drones were initially unable to locate the accident site, 250 firefighters from 22 fire departments formed a human chain and combed through the rough terrain, which is largely impassable by vehicle, in fog and the onset of darkness.
Drones found the wreckage of the plane
Shortly before 7 p.m., a source of heat was discovered from the air. On site, the Florianis found the completely destroyed aircraft. The emergency doctor could do nothing more for the 83-year-old, he was probably dead immediately.
The rest of the emergency services were not allowed to go to the accident site for the time being. This was because the small plane was equipped with a parachute rescue system that was supposed to prevent it from crashing to the ground without braking. However, because it was unclear whether this auxiliary instrument, which was equipped with a propellant charge, had been triggered, experts from the demining service had to be called in first.
"Any small vibration could have caused the plane to explode," says Klaus Stebal, spokesman for the state fire brigade association. Only then could the body be recovered.
Investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing
The remains of the plane itself remain at the scene of the accident for the time being, however, and the wreckage is being guarded by the police. It is not yet clear what caused the tragic crash. The State Office of Criminal Investigation has taken over the investigation and an autopsy of the body has been ordered. According to Austro Control, it was a "visual flight under the pilot's own responsibility without radio contact with air traffic control".
Shock in the community runs deep
Becker leaves a huge gap in his home town of Weitra in the district of Gmünd. He had run a supermarket with his family on the town hall square there for decades and was a popular and welcome figure. There is great consternation locally.
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