Aircraft accident Two dead in glider crash in Valais

Two people died in a glider crash in Valais on Friday afternoon. They were two Swiss nationals, aged 72 and 46, who had apparently taken off from the canton of Aargau.

According to the Valais cantonal police on Saturday, the accident occurred below the Chistehorn in the municipality of Niedergesteln.

A third party had witnessed the crash and alerted Rega shortly before 4.00 pm. The local emergency services, who were then informed and flew to the crash site in an Air Zermatt helicopter, were only able to determine that the two occupants had died.

According to the police, the glider took off from an airfield in the canton of Aargau at around 12.30 p.m. on Friday. The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (Sust) has launched an investigation. The cause of the accident was initially unclear.

SDA