On July 2, 2025, a serious aviation accident occurred in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. An Austrian pilot crashed his glider near Monte Valinis in the province of Pordenone from a height of around 200 meters into a wooded area. His fellow pilots alerted the Alpine Rescue Service and gave them the coordinates of the crash. A helicopter then took off, but was initially unable to find the pilot.
The rescue operation turned out to be complicated. Only after the coordinates had been adjusted was an alpine rescue nurse able to give the pilot first aid. Shortly afterwards, the helicopter's medical and technical team arrived, working with a winch. The pilot, who was unconscious and had suffered a head injury, was rescued in a harness and flown out.
The Austrian pilot was then flown to hospital in Udine. No specific details about his age or origin were initially available. The emergency services emphasized the challenges of the rescue in the rough, wooded terrain and praised the coordinated cooperation between ground and air rescue.
Monte Valinis, a well-known launch site for gliders and paragliders, is located at an altitude of around 1,000 meters and offered favourable conditions for thermal flights over Friuli. Nevertheless, there are risks involved in such flights. In the past, there have been repeated crashes due to strong air currents, sudden turbulence or technical problems, especially in unpredictable weather conditions or during landing approaches.
