Two crashes

A bad day for paragliders

On Saturday, two paraglider pilots crashed in Vorarlberg within the space of a few hours. The two men suffered injuries, some of them serious, and had to be taken to hospital. 

The first accident occurred around midday in Kleinwalsertal: a 32-year-old paraglider pilot had started his flight from the Walmendinger Horn. As soon as he was airborne, the glider was caught by a gust of wind, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. However, the man hit a group of trees and crashed from a height of around four meters. He suffered injuries to his lumbar spine on impact. Despite the pain, he still managed to make an emergency call. In addition, a fellow pilot who had witnessed the crash immediately descended to the accident victim and provided first aid until the emergency services arrived. The pilot was then rescued by the crew of the Christophorus 8 rescue helicopter with the assistance of the mountain rescue team and flown to hospital.

A few hours later, the rescue helicopter was called out to the next paragliding accident: a 57-year-old man had flown from the Baumgarten mountain station in Bezau in the direction of Sibratsgfäll. At around 4.30 pm, the pilot finally initiated the landing maneuver in the Tieftobel parcel. Unfortunately, the glider suddenly collapsed at an altitude of just under 20 meters - the man fell to the ground, where he remained with injuries of indeterminate severity. After receiving first aid from the emergency services, the 57-year-old was flown to Feldkirch Regional Hospital.