Ka 4 collision with cable near Berschis results in two fatalities
On August 26, 1962, an Alexander Schleicher Ka 4 Rhönlerche II collided with a cable car wire near Berschis, Switzerland. The glider, operated by the Segelfluggruppe Churfirsten, was on a ridge flight with a passenger when it struck the cable. Both the pilot and the passenger were fatally injured in the crash. The aircraft was completely destroyed upon impact. The investigation noted the presence of numerous cable car wires in the area, which were difficult to see during flight.
- Aerotow ridge flight: The pilot departed Walenstadt by aerotow with a passenger for a hang-soaring flight along the Churfirsten/Sichelchamm slopes and released near Tscherlach at about 600 m above ground.
- Degrading lift conditions: During the afternoon the ridge lift weakened so that usable updrafts were increasingly confined to areas close to the slopes.
- Known cable hazards: The pilot had been repeatedly briefed that the area beyond Tscherlach toward Berschis contained numerous cableways and was marked as a zone with many obstacles.
- Continued past Tscherlach: Despite prior advice to use Tscherlach as a limit due to obstacles, the pilot continued the ridge flight beyond Tscherlach toward the Berschis area while flying close to the slope.
- Insufficient lateral clearance: While following the steep Gilbiwand in weakening lift, the glider was flown with an objectively inadequate lateral distance from the terrain given the presence of cableways.
- Cable strike: At about 850 m MSL near the Gela–Schlums cableway support, the left wing contacted the two 12 mm cables, causing the wing to tear off at the root and the glider to roll left.
- Crash - fatal: Following the loss of the left wing, the glider fell approximately 50–70 meters onto a rock ledge and was destroyed, fatally injuring both the pilot and passenger.