Helicopters rescue pax stranded on cable car
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Helicopters rescue pax stranded on cable car
A paraglider collided with a cable car on Mt. Tegelberg, near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany, stranding nearly two dozen tourists aboard the cable car. After 18 hours, several helicopters managed to extract all passengers safely, as well as the hapless paraglider and his passenger.
Story here (Despite the lead paragraph, a number of ships were employed, as can be seen in the link below.)
Pictures here
Well done chaps!
Story here (Despite the lead paragraph, a number of ships were employed, as can be seen in the link below.)
A helicopter has plucked to safety 20 people stranded in mid-air on a cable car in southern Germany after a paraglider collided with the cables.
The 19 passengers and conductor were brought to safety after spending 18 hours suspended 80m (260ft) above the ground at Mt Tegelberg in Bavaria.
Rescuers supplied food and blankets, and toys for six children aboard, while waiting for strong winds to die down.
They also freed the paraglider and his tandem passenger.
The head of the cable car operator, Tegelbergbahn, said he was shocked the paraglider had apparently tried to cross the cables.
Pilots knew they were only allowed to fly parallel to them, Franz Bucher said, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
It was not immediately clear if the pilot would face charges.
Nine flights
Mt Tegelberg is close to the fairy-tale castle of Neuschwanstein, one of the country's top visitor attractions, and those aboard the cable car were said to be tourists.
Most of them were Germans and they included two east Europeans. They ranged in age from four to 75.
When the paraglider's parachute became tangled in the cables on Friday, visitors were left stranded in three groups
Twenty in the car at 80m
Thirty in a second car closer to the ground
About 130 at the station on the mountain itself
Those on the mountain were also brought to safety by helicopter while the occupants of the second car were apparently rescued by climbing teams later on Friday.
However, the evacuation of the first car could only proceed on Saturday morning, requiring nine helicopter flights over two hours.
A photo gallery on Bavarian radio's German-language website shows various helicopters delivering people to safety.
The 19 passengers and conductor were brought to safety after spending 18 hours suspended 80m (260ft) above the ground at Mt Tegelberg in Bavaria.
Rescuers supplied food and blankets, and toys for six children aboard, while waiting for strong winds to die down.
They also freed the paraglider and his tandem passenger.
The head of the cable car operator, Tegelbergbahn, said he was shocked the paraglider had apparently tried to cross the cables.
Pilots knew they were only allowed to fly parallel to them, Franz Bucher said, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
It was not immediately clear if the pilot would face charges.
Nine flights
Mt Tegelberg is close to the fairy-tale castle of Neuschwanstein, one of the country's top visitor attractions, and those aboard the cable car were said to be tourists.
Most of them were Germans and they included two east Europeans. They ranged in age from four to 75.
When the paraglider's parachute became tangled in the cables on Friday, visitors were left stranded in three groups
Twenty in the car at 80m
Thirty in a second car closer to the ground
About 130 at the station on the mountain itself
Those on the mountain were also brought to safety by helicopter while the occupants of the second car were apparently rescued by climbing teams later on Friday.
However, the evacuation of the first car could only proceed on Saturday morning, requiring nine helicopter flights over two hours.
A photo gallery on Bavarian radio's German-language website shows various helicopters delivering people to safety.
Well done chaps!
Last edited by Senior Pilot; 13th Aug 2011 at 22:05.
Wow.... a single engined huey/205 doing hoisting..... in JAA land 
on civilians....... thought that was not possible.... well, we know it's possible in the real world 
But well done to all the drivers, especially finishing in the dark
on civilians....... thought that was not possible.... well, we know it's possible in the real world But well done to all the drivers, especially finishing in the dark
Great job with difficult hover references
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Cool video of helicopter rescue in Bavaria
Here's the video: Video: Mit dem Schrecken davongekommen | Rundschau | Bayerisches Fernsehen | BR
As per the BBC: BBC News - Mid-air rescue for German cable car passengers
As per the BBC: BBC News - Mid-air rescue for German cable car passengers
Wow.... a single engined huey/205 doing hoisting..... in JAA land 
on civilians....... thought that was not possible.... well, we know it's possible in the real world 
on civilians....... thought that was not possible.... well, we know it's possible in the real world
skadi
Winching out of the cabin was done only by two police EC135 in a green-silver outfit in 2h for all. The UH-1 is the German Airforce SAR ship for this area, the AS332 in blue comes from the German Federal Police (former Borderguard). Additionaly a third EC135 in yellow from the ADAC Air rescue was involved. As said winching by the 2 police ships and the other birds offered some 100 persons a free helicopter ride (without hoisting) from the mountain peak restaurant stranded there after the cable car failure. Good deal, buy a cheap cable car ticket, take a good beer in the bar on top of the mountain, leave via free helicopter ride over a good air show and sell your story and fotos at the end to the news 
Ok, the night inside the cable car cabin was not so funny.
Ok, the night inside the cable car cabin was not so funny.
Last edited by tecpilot; 15th Aug 2011 at 08:19.
