In Austria, a 44-year-old experienced paraglider was involved in an unusual accident in the air – her paraglider collided with a Cessna light aircraft. The video of the incident was published by the athlete herself on Instagram, and the details of the incident were reported by the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
According to media reports, the incident occurred on May 23 in the area of Piesendorf (Pinzgau), from where the 44-year-old paraglider took off from Mount Schmittenhehe in the direction of the valley. At approximately 13.15 local time, it collided in mid-air with a Cessna light aircraft, which was flown by a 28-year-old pilot from Tyrol.
According to police, the plane was on a tourist alpine flight. As a result of the collision, the plane's propeller damaged the paraglider, after which the athlete activated her rescue parachute and made an emergency landing on a forest road.
The pilot was able to land the plane safely at Zell am See airport. The paraglider was subsequently evacuated by helicopter and taken to the same airport.
As the woman herself wrote, she miraculously survived and received only minor injuries.
“Happy second birthday! I still can’t believe that I’m sitting here writing this and that, other than a few nasty bruises and general contusions all over my body, nothing serious actually happened,” the athlete wrote.
The newspaper reported that the plane's pilot was also not injured. The causes of the collision are being established.
The New York Post wrote that the pilot said he had no way to avoid colliding with the paraglider.
