We have now been asked to keep the Ptarmigan tow closed while the investigations are on going - we hope this will only be for a couple of days. I am told the Crash site is a few hundred meters above the Ptarmigan tow return wheel. We are still getting very heavy snow here – but with light winds- almost alpine! I have added some more pictures which were taken by mountain rescue team members on Sunday .You may have seen reported over the week end that a plane crashed somewhere near to Cairn Gorm . This was outside the ski patrolled area , but we have been providing the rescue team and emergency services with support as well as assessing any potential pollution issues.
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on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 11:26 am and is filed under General.
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April 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
i heard the plane came pretty close to the ptarmigan restaurant??
April 8th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Such a tragedy for this poor pilot. I guess it highlights what we complain we don’t get enough of in recent years, is the very same thing that has the power to do such damage. I’ll be treating the snow with extra respect this year!
All the best to the Cairngorm team who are providing much needed assistance to the investigation and recovery teams!
April 8th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I was riding the ciste t bar just before 11am when I heard the noise of a light aircraft engine. This gave me some considerable concern considering the very poor visibility and prevailing wind and weather conditions at the time. A few moments later just as I was leaving the tow I could faintly make out the shape of an aircraft passing almost directly overhead on roughly a southerly track. I estimated it’s height above me as no more than a couple of hundred feet!! I must admit to being quite scared about the fact that this was definitely a near miss given the conditions. I stood at the top of the Tow for about 30 seconds waiting to see if I could hear either the sound of an impact or the returning noise of the aircraft as I felt the pilot must be disorientated. After hearing nothing other than the eerie sound of the wind and the cable running round the return wheel I felt that maybe they’d got away with it and went to catch up with my family. Sadly he hadn’t. It was only later when speaking with the ski patrol at the bottom of the M1 poma that I discovered that an aircraft was missing and informed them of my sighting. Unfortunately at the time weather conditions precluded an airborne search and as we now know it was extremely difficult to locate the aircraft by rescuers on the ground. Frightening to think just how close the aircraft got to the only building around for some distance. It could have been a completely different story with a much bigger tragedy only narrowly averted.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:52 am
With the benefit of good snow cover right down the car park we have been assisting the accident investigators and been able to remove the fuselage and engine down to the car park. For obvious reasons it was important to keep people away from the crash site while the initial investigations were on going and we were therefore asked not to run the Ptarmigan tow, although the site is well beyond this. We plan to put this tow back on today (Subject to weather etc). There is still a lot more to be done in terms of assessing the fuel pollution and ensuring the site is clear of debris. While this work is on going the site will still have restricted access.
Bob