Overview
- The collision occurred near Pinzgauer Hütte on Saturday around 13:15 when a Cessna 172 struck a paraglider from behind and tore the canopy.
- The 44-year-old pilot, identified as Sabrina, deployed her emergency reserve, landed on a forest road and was flown by police helicopter to Zell am See with only minor injuries.
- The 28-year-old Cessna pilot returned and landed safely and told authorities he could not avoid the impact; lines and fabric from the paraglider were left tangled on the aircraft.
- Austrian police and rescue services have opened a formal investigation to establish the sequence of events, visibility and whether airspace coordination or rules were breached.
- The episode highlights collision risks where scenic light-aircraft tours and unpowered sports share alpine routes and could prompt tighter flight coordination and wider use of electronic collision-avoidance gear such as FLARM.