Colisión de Diamant 18 con cable cerca de Bludenz resulta en fatalidad

El 8 de julio de 1968, un Glasflügel Diamant 18 colisionó con un cable en el bosque de Rungeliner cerca de Bludenz, Austria. El piloto realizaba un vuelo de travesía de 600 km cuando ocurrió el incidente. Mientras buscaba una corriente ascendente, el planeador chocó con un cable de una instalación agrícola local, lo que provocó un accidente en una zona boscosa. El piloto sufrió heridas graves y falleció antes de recibir asistencia médica. La aeronave resultó significativamente dañada en el accidente.

1. Cross-country cruise: The experienced pilot departed Altenrhein at 08:00 on a 600 km cross-country flight in a Diamant 18 glider and cruised toward the Bludenz area searching for usable lift.
2. Weak early thermals: Around 10:00 near Bludenz the thermals were still weak and only beginning to develop, forcing the pilot to fly low and close to the sun-heated Rungeliner forest slopes while searching for lift.
3. Unmarked cable hazard: An agricultural Rungelin–Furkla cableway with a 5.5 mm support cable, charted but unmarked and visually hard to detect from the air above the forested slope, crossed the area where the pilot was thermaling.
4. Collision with cable: While turning left in about 40–45° bank near the slope to exploit weak lift, the glider unexpectedly struck the thin support cable of the agricultural cableway at roughly 80–90 km/h.
5. Loss of control descent: After the cable strike, the glider’s attitude became unstable, with the nose pitching up briefly then twice dropping through before the aircraft rolled toward the mountain and entered a near-vertical descent into the forest.
6. Crash - fatal: The glider impacted the steep, wooded slope almost vertically, severely destroying the forward fuselage and fatally injuring the pilot despite wearing an unused parachute.