Gunship
6th Feb 2005, 21:24
Cape Town - A man who broke his pelvis when his glider crashed in the Langeberg, had to wait until the next morning to be rescued.
Reinhold Lawrenz, 53, from Klapmuts, left the Worcester airstrip on Friday morning.
According to Stefan Botes, a farm manager in the district, his son spotted the glider bumping against the side of the mountain at about 19:00.
They immediately informed the police and climbed the mountain to see if the person was alive.
Lawrenz answered their calls, and they climbed up to him with coffee and warm clothing. At that stage, he was out of the glider, but could not move.
Botes and his neighbour, Lourie van Zyl, made Lawrenz a bed of of stones and grass, as well as using some cushions and parachutes from the glider.
Shortly thereafter police and members of the Boland metro emergency services arrived at the scene.
The manager of the emergency service, Fadeel Embrahim, said it was decided not to move Lawrenz from the mountain.
"We weren't sure how stable the glider was and we didn't want to send a helicopter."
Lawrenz was stabilised on the scene and some of the rescue workers and volunteers spent the night with him on the mountain.
The rescue helicopter picked him up at about 09:00 on Saturday and took him to the Stellenbosch Medi Clinic. He was in a stable condition on Sunday.
Nicky Oberhofer, chief flight instructor of the Cape Town glider club, said Lawrenz is one of their most experienced pilots. He flew with his own self-launching glider.
Oberhofer said turbulence near the mountain could have caused the accident.
The craft's logbook is being checked.
Reinhold Lawrenz, 53, from Klapmuts, left the Worcester airstrip on Friday morning.
According to Stefan Botes, a farm manager in the district, his son spotted the glider bumping against the side of the mountain at about 19:00.
They immediately informed the police and climbed the mountain to see if the person was alive.
Lawrenz answered their calls, and they climbed up to him with coffee and warm clothing. At that stage, he was out of the glider, but could not move.
Botes and his neighbour, Lourie van Zyl, made Lawrenz a bed of of stones and grass, as well as using some cushions and parachutes from the glider.
Shortly thereafter police and members of the Boland metro emergency services arrived at the scene.
The manager of the emergency service, Fadeel Embrahim, said it was decided not to move Lawrenz from the mountain.
"We weren't sure how stable the glider was and we didn't want to send a helicopter."
Lawrenz was stabilised on the scene and some of the rescue workers and volunteers spent the night with him on the mountain.
The rescue helicopter picked him up at about 09:00 on Saturday and took him to the Stellenbosch Medi Clinic. He was in a stable condition on Sunday.
Nicky Oberhofer, chief flight instructor of the Cape Town glider club, said Lawrenz is one of their most experienced pilots. He flew with his own self-launching glider.
Oberhofer said turbulence near the mountain could have caused the accident.
The craft's logbook is being checked.