Special divers recover crashed plane from Attersee lake

Two specialist divers recovered a crashed light aircraft from a depth of 163 metres in Attersee lake on Monday, ORF reported. They attached a recovery line to the wreck within minutes during a high-risk operation near Steinbach am Attersee in the Vöcklabruck district.

The decisive dive began at about 10 a.m. An Upper Austrian diver and his instructor from Germany had been called in by the water rescue service after several attempts with underwater robots had failed.

The divers reached the aircraft within 15 minutes, according to Gerald Berger, head of the Upper Austrian water rescue service. They then secured the special recovery line to the wreck in just a few minutes.

Specialist diver Markus Turm said the main challenge was not reaching the depth but returning to the surface. “The problem is not deep diving, but decompression time,” he told ORF. Divers must wait in the water in a controlled way while ascending to prevent a potentially fatal build-up of gas in the body.

Light decreases sharply in clear lake water from around 20 metres down, with complete darkness at greater depths. “All deep dives have one thing in common: they are dark and cold,” Turm said.

The operation had been prepared over three days by the water rescue service, fire brigade and police. Because the wreck was in deep water, extensive safety measures were required. “These are two professionals. You need special training and special equipment for this,” Berger said.

Turm said the preparations had been decisive. “It was perfectly prepared, the team was excellent and the lines worked very well,” he said in the ORF interview.

After the recovery line was attached, a winch on a platform over the lake slowly pulled the aircraft towards the surface. Police confirmed at about 1 p.m. that the wreck was only a few metres below the water. Shortly after 3 p.m., the aircraft was lifted ashore using straps attached to a mobile recovery crane.

The two divers were able to return safely to the surface after about four hours. Police cordoned off the area, and a screen was erected. Officers from the State Criminal Police Office were also at the scene.

The recovery was particularly important because the bodies of the two accident victims were still inside the aircraft. “Naturally, the relatives want the people to be brought back to the surface,” Berger said. Investigators also hope the wreck will help clarify the cause of the crash.

The two-seat light aircraft crashed during a training flight on Wednesday and sank to the bottom of Attersee. A 19-year-old student pilot and her 24-year-old flight instructor from Germany were on board. According to Flightradar24 data, contact with the aircraft was suddenly lost at about 11.23 a.m. Witnesses said it had rapidly lost altitude shortly before the crash. Police and prosecutors are continuing their investigation.