As of: March 18, 2024, 12:20 p.m
By: Johannes Welte
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A rescue helicopter crashed on Monte Rosa.
© Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico Piemonte - CNSAS/Facebook
A rescue helicopter had an accident while rescuing a ski tourer from a crevasse on Monte Rosa at an altitude of 4,554 meters.
The outcome of the crash is surprising.
Macugnaga - The Monte Rosa massif with the Dufourspitze (4634 meters) as its highest peak is the second highest mountain in the Alps and all of Western Europe after Mont Blanc.
Since it lies on the border of Italy and Switzerland, it is also the highest mountain in Switzerland.
On Italian soil, on the sub-peak of the Signalkuppe/Punta Gnifetti, at 4,554 meters, is the highest hut in the Alps, the Capanna Regina Margherita, which is also considered the highest permanent structure in Western Europe.
Winter sportsman falls into a crevasse - helicopter is deployed
In winter, ski tourers are attracted to the deep snow that lies on the eternal ice of the glaciers.
Some well-heeled freeriders fly to Monte Rosa by helicopter.
A helicopter drama occurred here on Saturday.
On Saturday, a rescue helicopter from the Alpine rescue service of the Piemonte region made its way to the four-thousand-meter peak to rescue “a person who had fallen into a crevasse,” according to the portal
ilfattoquotidiano.it
.
The person was rescued and survived the crash.
The helicopter was supposed to pick up the medical staff at the Monte Rosa base camp and fly them to the casualty.
Helicopter crashes at an altitude of 4,500 meters
However, the helicopter crashed near the Capanna Margherita for reasons that are still unclear.
The helicopter crashed into the snow.
After the accident was reported, Air Zermatt air rescue in Switzerland and Aosta Valley Alpine Rescue immediately mobilized additional helicopters to reach the area and bring help to colleagues in distress.
A rescue helicopter had an accident on the summit massif of Monte Rosa with the Doufourspitze.
© IMAGO/xdemerzel21x
“All four people on board (pilot, alpine rescue technician, flight technician and dog handler) are in good condition,” it said.
They were taken to the Borgosesia City Hospital for medical examination.
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Emergency Chief: Normally a helicopter crash is fatal
A “near tragedy.”
I was shocked,” Mario Balzanelli, president of Sis 118, tells
Adnkronos
.
“Normally, a helicopter crash is associated with unstoppable death.
“As if by a miracle, our entire crew is completely uninjured.” The incident shows the risk that the 118 employees are exposed to.
“Transporting injured people, whether by road, by ambulance or in a rescue helicopter, involves fatal risks that hospital colleagues are not exposed to,” continued Balzanelli.
A rescue helicopter crashed on Monte Rosa.
© Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico/Facebook
Helicopters cannot fly as high as airplanes.
The reason for their lower maximum altitude is the lower air density.
On the one hand, this reduces engine performance because there is less oxygen available for combustion and, on the other hand, according to the
Stuttgarter Zeitung,
the rotor blades have to rotate faster or tilt more steeply in order to generate the same lift with the thinner air.
Most conventional helicopters could climb to a maximum altitude of 4,000 to 5,000 meters, so the rescue flight already took place at an altitude where navigation could be problematic.
Recently, several mountain dramas had shaken the Alps: In Switzerland, five ski tourers apparently died due to an avalanche on Saturday last week.
On Monday, four mountain rescuers were hit by an avalanche in South Tyrol's Senales Valley while they were looking for victims of a previous avalanche.
Over 200 young German biathletes were lucky to escape an avalanche in a gallery in South Tyrol.