Divers in Lake Attersee

“We Only Had 90 Seconds to Attach the Ropes”

Markus Sturm (left) and Manfred Frühmann are diving down to the wreck at a depth of 160 meters.(Bild: Krone-Collage/FOTOKERSCHI / WERNER KERSCHBAUMM, FOTOKERSCHI / WERNER KERSCHBAUMMAYR, Krone KREATIV)

Since Wednesday of the previous week, the wreckage of a crashed small plane had been lying at the bottom of Lake Attersee. Two divers now ventured down to a depth of 160 meters to make the recovery of the plane possible. The “Krone” spoke with Markus Sturm, who pulled off this daring feat.

It took a remarkable feat by two divers to retrieve the bodies of two young people and the wreckage of a crashed plane from the bottom of Lake Attersee. The plane, which crashed into the lake and sank last Wednesday, was lying at a depth of 160 meters. Markus Sturm (44) and his German colleague Manfred Führmann (68) dove to the depths on Monday to attach the recovery ropes to the wreckage. 

“Harder than expected”
“We had only planned 90 seconds for this, and it turned out to be more difficult than expected because we practically had to thread the ropes under the wreck by hand. In the end, we must have been at the very bottom for two minutes,” says diver Markus Sturm, describing the feat. And it certainly was, as the preparation time was extremely short. “We’ve only been working on this since Saturday. Everything had to be as safe as possible,” says Sturm, who dove down to 160 meters together with his colleague and mentor Manfred Führmann.

The completely destroyed wreck was successfully recovered.(Bild: FOTOKERSCHI / WERNER KERSCHBAUMMAYR, Krone KREATIV)

Safety Is of Utmost Importance
Six safety divers were stationed at depths down to 80 meters—just in case. Everything had to be discussed and planned down to the smallest detail, because a dive to that depth can be life-threatening. “We’ve slept very little since Saturday and have always coordinated everything with the district attorney’s office, because they naturally wanted the highest possible level of safety,” says Sturm.

We’ve been working on this since Saturday. Everything has to be as safe as possible, and that requires a lot of planning above all else.

Taucher Markus Sturm (44), St. Georgen/ Attergau

Bild: FOTOKERSCHI / WERNER KERSCHBAUMM

But it wasn’t until they reached a depth of 160 meters that it became clear you can’t plan everything down to the smallest detail. “Unfortunately, the readings from the dive computer weren’t ideal. The spots where we wanted to attach the ropes weren’t stable enough. So we had to improvise,” said Sturm, who is a commercial diver.

A Long Way Back
In the end, everything worked out, and while the wreck could be brought to the surface relatively quickly, the two divers had to be patient. “The entire dive ended up taking three hours because of the many decompression stops on the way up,” explains Markus Sturm. 

Accident on Wednesday
A 19-year-old flight student and her 24-year-old flight instructor (both from Germany) crashed into Lake Attersee on Wednesday, as has been reported multiple times. On the evening of the accident, the wreck was located about 300 meters from the shore at a depth of 160 meters.

The wreckage is now being transported to a hangar. “The aviation and accident analysis expert we’ve commissioned is handling all of this. He will then examine the wreckage in detail. However, that will take some time,” says Christoph Weber, spokesperson for the Wels District Attorney’s Office, to the “Krone.” The results of the ordered autopsies on the two victims will be available sooner—that should happen later this week. “An investigation into negligent homicide against persons unknown is underway,” explains Weber. Once the investigation is complete, authorities hope to find an explanation for the crash...