Glider Crash, Ubaye valley, Alpes-de-Haute Provence. Pilot killed

[Tartiflette Fan]

Late Sunday afternoon July 16th, hikers in the commune de Méolans-Revel,heard what they thought was an aeroplane crash and then found the wreck near the Lac de l’Aupillon around 2 800m. There was no phone service in that area and they notified the emergency services one hour later at 18:00 when they were able to connect. Two rescuers and a doctor were flown in from the aerial section of Gendarmerie of Jausiers,and confirmed the pilot - Austrian - was dead

https://www.ledauphine.com/faits-divers-justice/2023/07/16/un-pilote-retrouve-mort-apres-le-crash-d-un-planeur-en-ubaye

[Tartiflette Fan]

I was wondering about the removal of the remains of this glider, which will be rather costly given the inaccessible nature of the terrain. Are gliders obliged to carry insurance which covers third-party injuries, clear-up costs after an accident ?

[biscuit74]

That may very well be covered under the 'third party risks' element of glider insurance policies. It used to be fairly common for sailplane insurance to cover against damage to farmer's crops etc., in the event of an outlanding. I am not sure if this is simply suggested by national sports bodies or otherwise mandated/

[Prop swinger]

Gliders in Europe are subject to the same mandatory third party insurance requirements as powered aircraft. I doubt that it covers the cost of removing wreckage from a mountainside though.

[blind pew]

It wasn’t normal to be insured for wreckage recovery but I believe it is mandatory in the area.
A few years ago a German motorglider hit the Pic de Bure and was left at the top of the scree slope in the bowl. Several club members were trying to hire a helicopter pilot to get the wreckage out, local guy refused as a dodgy lift. A week later it was gone. Glider wreckage is valuable and normally repairable.
Was flown over another site the day after a crash which fortunately ended with a broken leg of the Belgian pilot..mates carried the bits out.
Excellent and challenging place to fly but dangerous especially for foreign pilots after guys who had attended Jacque Noel and Richard Baigge mountain flying school copied their documents and published them in a German segelflug magazine which meant that any fool could read the stuff and consider he was qualified.
Avoid during holiday season.
‘Visited the ex CFI of Vinon last week who now does professional ballooning over the lavender fields of Valensole..apparently the aviation gendarmes visited a site and fined a load of pilots for flying to low on the base leg …he made a witness statement after the free fall gendarme parachutist took the wing off a Brit glider which flew through the Gap drop zone..the gendarme mate of the deceased made a false statement that they hadn’t jumped above a solid cloud layer.

[ATC Watcher]

Insurance : not sure for a purely privately own glider ,( depends on his private insurance policy conditions I guess ) but for any French or German glider belonging to a club or use a club to launch , , they are automatically insured for aircraft debris removals by helicopter if necessary . The insurance comes with the mandatory “ Federation” or German DAeC licenses any pilot flying club machines must have .

In addition , if you crash inside a National Park ( a lot of the the Alps are ) you have 48 h only to remove the debris or can get a 1000 per day fine after that, and fines are not covered by insurance .
The eventual Rescue of the pilot by helicopter is still free in France ( unlike in Switzerland or Austria) but there are discussions to change this in case of obvious negligence which is often the case in the mountains .

[markkal]

Hi ATC Watcher,

Helicopter rescue is not free in France. back in 2008 my brother had a crash in the french alps during a mountain flying training flight at valloires, col du galibier. 2 fatalities.

Helicopter rescue was called in as my brother was sitill alive, unfortunately he died while on the way to the hospital.

We got an invoice for 6'500 euros for the helicopter services, fortunately it was covered by insurance we had in switzerland.

[hoistop]

Hi ATC Watcher,

Helicopter rescue is not free in France. back in 2008 my brother had a crash in the french alps during a mountain flying training flight at valloires, col du galibier. 2 fatalities.

Helicopter rescue was called in as my brother was sitill alive, unfortunately he died while on the way to the hospital.

We got an invoice for 6'500 euros for the helicopter services, fortunately it was covered by insurance we had in switzerland.

This is really strange to me - so many confusing information about helicopter rescue costs in France. I was assured by Gendarmerie in Chamonix helicopter base in 2018, that saving life is paid by French taxpayers. Rescuing equipment (wreckage) of course is not. I talked to rescuers on ski slope (Meribel) a year ago and they said that on the slopes you have to pay (not much) for the rescue and that includes injury on a place outside of prepared ski piste, if it is reachable by cable car (meaning, that if you go up by skilift and go downhill out of prepared piste, it is still considered ski slope accident and thus payable). But if you go mountaineering and you get injured, I was assured that rescue, including helicopter, is paid by taxpayers, not the patient. Can someone from France, more intimate with subject, please clarify this? Is it a difference if you are rescued by government operator (Gendarmerie, Securite Civile) or a private helicopter? What is the truth, please, - anyone??

Regarding gliders, the EU regulations require compulsory third party damage insurance the same way as for powered (general aviation) airplanes. I am not sure if that includes wreckage removal, but it is a good question - (I should have known this, as I often fly over the Alps. :( )