Too technically difficult

Aircraft Recovery Is a “Grueling Farce”

Rescue crews were unable to secure a safety line to the aircraft wreckage at a depth of 160 meters.(Bild: FOTOKERSCHI / MATTHIAS KALTENLEITNER)

Wolfgang Hufnagl, the district fire chief in Vöcklabruck, described the recovery of the crashed small plane from Lake Attersee as a “grueling ordeal.” A 19-year-old flight student and her 24-year-old flight instructor crashed on Wednesday. So far, firefighters have not been able to secure the wreckage. On Saturday afternoon, the attempt was finally called off.

“We still haven’t managed to get a proper grip on the plane. That’s our main task right now. Only then can we even talk about a recovery. And even that will take hours,” said District Fire Chief Wolfgang Hufnagl on Saturday morning, tempering expectations.

“The wreckage is lying on the lake bed; we have to maneuver the single-armed robot with a joystick and try to pull a kind of loop over it.” The robot cannot pass underneath the plane, and there is nothing at the front or on the wings where the rescue team can hook onto it. 

“We’re trying to find any spot where we can secure the safety line. It’s really a test of patience. And the team is sitting in a rocking boat the whole time. The swell doesn’t make this task any easier,” the commander explained.

You can’t imagine a recovery like this as simply walking up to an apple tree and plucking a fruit. It’s significantly more complex.

Der Vöcklabrucker Bezirksfeuerwehrkommandant Wolfgang Hufnagl 

Only once the Florianis have managed to secure a recovery line to the aircraft wreck can they proceed. Then the wreck must be slowly hauled up. It’s not until the wreck reaches a depth of 40 meters that divers can assist by attaching buoys to prevent it from sinking again. As a reminder: The wreck had been located early Wednesday evening about 300 meters from the shore at a depth of 160 meters. 

What is the current timeline? “Hard to say,” says Hufnagl. “We worked until midnight yesterday and would have kept going all night if we could. But the thunderstorm made the lake simply too rough.” Today, Saturday, they tried everything again. But recovery will only be possible once the suspension system is in place—and even that will take several hours.

On Saturday afternoon, the recovery operation was suspended because the mission was technically too difficult, according to the Upper Austria State Police Directorate. “We won’t be able to finish today,” Hufnagl added. Weather permitting, a new recovery attempt is scheduled for Sunday.