His light plane crashed into the lake shortly after taking off from Altenrhein (Switzerland). The 72-year-old from Switzerland had previously reported technical problems.
As police in the Swiss canton of Sankt Gallen reported, a plane crashed into Lake Constance at around 2:30 pm, shortly after taking off from Altenrhein airport. Rescue organizations were mobilized on a large scale. It was a small plane. According to “Sankt Galler Tagblatt”, the pilot, a 72-year-old Swiss, had reported problems and wanted to land again. One photo showed that the crash site was just 50 meters from shore and close to a restaurant; Because when the water level was low, rescuers could also walk to the wreck on foot.
At around 6pm, it was reported that the man was dead. There were no indications of other occupants on his plane, nor were there any assumptions about the cause of the accident.
Altenrhein is close to the border with Vorarlberg, close to Gaißau, from there there is also a daily flight to Vienna.
More recently, in February 2021, a small aircraft crashed into the lake in front of Altenrhein and the nearby town of Staad, at that time approaching to land. The pilot, a 70-year-old German, survived.
Austrian minister, German arms dealers…
The mirror of Lake Constance, where there is still a larger airport on the German side near Friedrichshafen and a smaller airfield near Constance, has repeatedly become the scene of plane crashes. In February 1989, a twin-engine plane from the then company “Rheintaflug” from Vienna crashed into the lake while landing in Altenrhein. All eleven occupants died – including Austrian Minister of Social Affairs Alfred Dallinger (SPÖ) and Brigitte Seewald, the pilot and wife of the company’s founder Wreck sank to 76 meters and was recovered a week later.
There were particular rumors in early 1994 after a Cessna 425 coming from Prague crashed into the lake in January, also while approaching Altenrhein. She sank to nearly 160 meters and was recovered in February. There were five people on board: in addition to the pilot, an agitated and somewhat intelligent Berlin businessman with activities in the arms trade, a former head of the GDR Gymnastics and Sports Association with similar involvements, two waitresses and a dog. The objective was actually Paris, in Altenrhein they wanted to make a stop.
The plane disappeared from radar shortly before landing and could only be located after a week due to bad weather. However, the pilot, one of the women and the dog disappeared from the wreck; According to authorities, they had no chance of surviving in the cold water. The landing flaps were still retracted, which is very unusual just before landing or a planned landing. The businessman and former sports official had been under police surveillance for a long time, were involved in dubious deals with arms dealers in the Baltic States and Liechtenstein and had suspicious contacts in France and China, for example. For certain reasons, it was suspected that radioactive material had been transported on the plane, but no evidence was found.
>>> Link to St. Galler Tagblatt including photos and videos of the scene