From the reactions at X:🚨 WATCH: A paraglider gets hit by a Cessna 172 near the Austrian town of Zell am See.
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) May 24, 2026
The paraglider was able to pull her rescue parachute and land safely shortly after the incident on Saturday.
According to police, the 44-year-old Austrian had started from Schmittenhöhe in… pic.twitter.com/HYQ7euRu57
1. "I assume the paraglider was not respecting the max altitude? or was it the cessna?"2. "That pilot is a fucking moron. How could he not see a neon pink chute against that blue sky??? My take is he did it on purpose, wanted to get as close as possible to make it a 'stunt' but miscalculated. No other explanation."3. "So shocking too me that nobody thanks Jesus or God in general when the survive something like this. My immediate reaction when landing would be to thank the good lord every breath and kiss the earth and just give him all the praise."4. "@grok, can you translate what all she says in this video into English, please?" Answer:
- "Oida!" (like "Dude!" or "Whoa!")
- "Leck mich am Arsch!" (strong vulgar exclamation of disbelief, roughly "Holy shit!" or "Fuck me!")
- Some "Fuck!" and inaudible shouts while struggling.
- After landing safely: "So, ich leb' noch, des is die Hauptsache." ("Well, I'm still alive—that's the main thing.")...
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65 comments:
Literally, lick me on my ass(hole). The punchline for an old joke about the toilet paper shortage in East Germany, circa 1973.
The pilot may be a fucking moron or just unfortunate they were at the same altitude while his vision was impaired by flying directly into the sun. Notice the location of shadows and the plane’s direction of travel. The canopy color would be of no help..
So shocking too me that nobody thanks Jesus or God in general when the survive something like this. My immediate reaction when landing would be to thank the good lord every breath and kiss the earth and just give him all the praise.
I almost died in a rip tide event. The Lord interceded, saved my ass. I didn't thank him until years later. At the time, it didn't even occur to me to thank him.
Schmittenhöhe, Piesendorf, and Pinzgauer Hütt all sound dirty too.
It's scary when you think you're about to die. I was kind of laughing, because I knew she was going to be all right. But man, my heart goes out to her. I've felt that fear.
Sometimes God helps us, even when we don't ask for any help. Thank the Lord.
As Bismarck might have said, "God has a special providence for fools, drunks, vulgar athletes, and the United States of America."
So, here's how the internet answered my question: "No — paragliders do not give themselves enemas before flying. In fact, there is no evidence or practice in paragliding that involves enemas. The question seems to be a humorous or absurd twist on a real issue: how pilots manage bodily functions during long flights."
It says "break your own rules" on her cocoon. Maybe that's what the Cessna pilot did.
That pilot may have been trying to buzz her and miscalculated. I mean, imagine the odds...
Why is the paraglider in a sleeping bag? Do they stay up in the air long enough to take a snooze?
"Schmittenhöhe, Piesendorf, and Pinzgauer Hütt all sound dirty too."
The umlauts add an extra layer of innuendo.
Usually there are altitudes assigned to different kinds of aircraft and paragliders to prevent this sort of thing. Maybe he was too low, or she was too high.
Its possible he was trying to "buzz her" and got it wrong. He wouldn't be the first. More likely it was just one of those things.
Damn, she missed that tree by a couple feet. Lucky.
I can't imagine a pilot buzzing a paraglider or parachutist with the dangers of collapsing the air-filled canopy. I bet he's going to be swearing up and down he didn't see her, but it ought to be his very last flight as a pilot. I knew a guy from Colorado, a real character, gung ho, cigar-chomping, hilarious, and with glasses that were the envy of coke bottle bottoms everywhere. He kept crashing his plane(s) on take-offs and landings until some grown up finally took his license away.
It was cool how she could just reach in and throw out her emergency shoot within seconds.
I almost died in a rip tide event. The Lord interceded, saved my ass.
What kind of malicious God put you in danger in the first place? I'm don't think God creates rip tides, tricks you into swimming into it, and then rescues you.
“ Usually there are altitudes assigned to different kinds of aircraft and paragliders to prevent this sort of thing.”
Not true. Aircraft operating VFR above 3000’ on a heading between 000° and 179° fly at an odd altitude plus 500’; otherwise even plus 500’. Below 3000’, at least 500’ above the surface; in congested areas, at least 1000’
There are no altitude restrictions for paragliders.
Forgot to mention, VFR altitudes apply only to cruise flight, no maneuvering.
I'm with the second half of rehajm's comment at 6:42am. He was flying into the sun and it certainly looks like the sun was reflecting off the canopy, making it more white than pink. Her dark clothes and whatever that covering is would also have blended pretty well with the dark forested mountains. It isn't clear from the video if he deviated from his flight path in order to buzz (I assume the authorities are making that determination) so if they both happened to be flying pretty much directly towards each other there wouldn't have been noticeable movement to attract his attention.
I don’t think it was malicious. Being well clear of the mountains he was probably just looking at the scenery never expecting a paraglider to be up there.
Been to those places while hiking in Austria. Nothing dirty about them.
It must be my childhood Roadrunner cartoon inculcation that made me anticipate she'd land on that adjacent mountain road and immediately be hit by an Acme truck.
When I was flying, a Cessna 172 of all things, hot air balloons were a thing in my area. They always had the right of way. I steered clear of them in a major way. I agree the sun probably impacted his view. I’d like to hear the pilots response.
A bleached horizon, equitable, and inclusive.
What kind of malicious God put you in danger in the first place?
We all die, Freder. We're all in danger of death, all the time. And all of us will die. Even Jesus died. It's not "malicious," because there is an afterlife, a new life after we die.
I'm don't think God creates rip tides
Of course he creates rip tides. He creates rip tides, earthquakes, the sun, the moon, orgasms, dinosaurs. He creates all of the universe.
tricks you into swimming into it
I tricked myself. Or Satan tricked me. There are bad spirits as well as good ones who influence us.
and then rescues you.
That's what happened. I didn't do it. I had some help.
I was all by myself, nobody was around, fighting a rip tide, swimming against it. I was exhausted. I was making zero progress. I tried swimming parallel to the shore. And the moment I stopped swimming against the rip tide, it pushed me further out to sea. It was terrifying.
I could feel myself getting exhausted. I was swimming and swimming, getting nowhere. I thought, "oh no, I'm actually going to die." I wasn't even afraid at that point. I was too tired to be afraid. It was just this overwhelming realization that it was impossible for me to swim out of this situation.
I heard a little voice. "See if you can touch bottom."
It was ridiculous. I was hundreds of yards from the beach. Way further out to sea than I've ever been. There was no way I could touch bottom.
I heard it again. "See if you can touch bottom."
I reached down with my foot, and I found a sand bar. And I stood on it. The water was up to my neck. And when I had stopped swimming, and was just standing there, I could feel the rip tide, trying to push me out to sea.
I took a step, terrified that I was going to walk off the sandbar, and have to start swimming again. And I walked all the way out of the ocean. What had been impossible, became easy as pie.
It was years before I thanked God for this. At the time, I was like, "I heard a little voice." It saved my ass.
According to Grok:
The collision occurred inside an active Temporary Reserved Airspace (TRA) designated for paragliders and hang gliders.
The Cessna pilot was aware of the active TRA.
All available reports describe the flight as a sightseeing trip operated by Alpenflug GmbH & Co KG (the owner of OE-KAF), with only the pilot on board.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Germans have a word for the feeling engendered by hitting a paraglider with a Cessna.
nein-nein-schadenfreude
Luftkrakfreude
Bob Boyd, the do now!
Whoa. She was at some altitude.
Crazy. Where can I get some of those blow-up pants? I'd like to put them on some night when my wife and I are going out on the town. Just to get her reaction.
I’m amazed at the camera placement that managed to catch the plane approach perfectly, the struggle with the chutes above, the woman and all the actions she was taking, the landing site below, and the touch down. Almost like it was staged. Almost.
PS- I would have been talking to God.
I've had two situations in my life when I thought I was going to die, and probably should have. The last such time was years ago. But in both situations, I let God know that I was not ready, that I still had more to do. There's more to the story, but...I'm still here. Perhaps we are left here to complete the task we were sent to do?
Is this my task? To irritate some people reading a blog?
@althouse So nice that you say "please" to Grok!
Nancy said… @althouse So nice that you say “please” to Grok!
See, that’s what the Pope is worried about…
Wake up Ann
You’ve got the AI disease
Age 75, it’s got you down on your knees
So polite, you’re busy still sayin’ “please”
H/T New Radicals
"Sometimes God helps us, even when we don't ask for any help."
I can't imagine what it's like going through life thinking God is interceding in my affairs. I guess it brings comfort.
Pleas pass the peas, please.
If you watch the video, the 3 second mark is the first time you can see the dot that becomes the plane. Her left arm is blocking it at first. He would not have been able to see her much sooner. He's clipped her within a couple of seconds.
According to r/aviation, the Cessna dash is high and blocks the view of anything that is at a lower altitude. It's unlikely he was trying to buzz her. Unless he's suicidal. They're both lucky it wasn't worse for either of them. It very easily could have been.
The best comment there was, "I'm not an expert in bird law, but I know enough about eagle culture to know that they now have to get married and build a house. "
Parasailing music, by Mozart
holy moly. well - she did appear to smile after she realized she hit the ground alive.
he could have hit her full on and killed her. what a a* h**F**head
I can't imagine what it's like going through life thinking God is interceding in my affairs. I guess it brings comfort.
Yes, it does. There are a lot of joyful Christians. But there can also be stress. My will might not match up with God's will. And so I have to accept that I'm not going to get my way.
Jesus prayed hard not to be crucified. He asked for God to release him from his mission. And the answer he got was no, he had to be sacrificed now. And Jesus accepted it.
God is all-powerful, which is terrifying. Jesus reminds us that God loves us. That is comforting.
We might be fooling ourselves. But when you go down this road, it's a happy journey. Although it can be a little scary, too. You really feel alive.
The Slave Trader -- Amazing Grace (John Newton).
Almost like it was staged. Almost.
That's what I thought. Maybe she paid him to get the online engagement.
The visual flight rules don't prevent collisions but collisions are unlikely enough so that it doesn't matter much. If they blame somebody it will be a ritual to protect the designers of the rules.
See and be seen works except for things you're going to collide with. There's no relative motion with those, which makes them pretty invisible. What you can pick up is stuff that moves in bearing. What you collide with is stuff that doesn't move in bearing.
Whiskeybum said...
I’m amazed at the camera placement that managed to catch the plane approach perfectly
It's a 360 degree camera. You choose the view you want to track after the fact.
Bob Boyd said...
According to Grok:
The collision occurred inside an active Temporary Reserved Airspace (TRA) designated for paragliders and hang gliders.
According to the nearby airfield, it's completely free airspace.
"The managing director of Zell am See airfield, Florian Schett, said: “We are not an airport like Salzburg, for example. We don't have any restricted or clearance-required airspace here. Around Zell am See, it's completely open airspace. Nothing is restricted. Everyone is free to use the airspace equally. Which is perhaps not unimportant in this matter. While this incident occurred near Zell am See airfield, it has no practical connection to the airfield. We have no influence on where anyone moves or flies.”"
"It's a 360 degree camera. You choose the view you want to track after the fact."
Thanks! I was puzzled by the fortuitousness of the camera shots.
She told him to like her Schmittenhöhe.
"@althouse So nice that you say "please" to Grok!"
Those are reactions at X that I'm quoting. I'll add quotes to make that more obvious. I don't say "please" to Grok, for the record, but I don't think your calling me "nice" was a compliment.
@ Mary Beth
Thanks. I think your info is probably correct. Grok got it's info about a TRA from Reddit.
Also, that's good to know about the camera.
A meme related to the comments.
And yeah, I have to resist thanking the computer but you never know whats gonna happen.
Staged? Someone must be smokin’ dope. The airplane flies a foot or two lower she would have been run through the vegetamtic.
@Saint Croix, a little prayer for you next time you’re in a praying mood:
“May I always be worthy of my guardian angel’s attention.”
thanks Big Mike
In Switzerland, paragliding (tandem) is the number 1 "activity" in the tourism economy. If you are in a touristy area threre are sunny days when the sky above is alive with hundreds of swarming chutes. Any local pilot knows this. I suspect the same is true in alpine areas of nearlby countries. No excuse for the Cessna driver.
"@althouse So nice that you say "please" to Grok!"
Those are reactions at X that I'm quoting. I'll add quotes to make that more obvious. I don't say "please" to Grok, for the record, but I don't think your calling me "nice" was a compliment.
I read somewhere that politely talking to Grok and LLM in general generates better answers on average. Including please and thank you which granted seems weird to many of us.
I forget why this is allegedly so.
I didn't know that she was going to live when I started watching. That made it that much more harrowing.
What kind of malicious God put you in danger in the first place? I'm don't think God creates rip tides, tricks you into swimming into it, and then rescues you. - Freder
And yet you still wonder why people call you an asshole ....
"The airplane flies a foot or two lower she would have been run through the vegetamtic."
'''''''''''""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
And if this had happened in Australia instead of Austria she would have been turned into a Vegemite sandwich..
At least here in the United States the ceiling for soaring pilots is 18,000 ft; they look a lot lower than that. Sectional maps often will indicate areas of soaring activity letting private plane pilots know to proceed with caution. Maybe the site wasn't shown on the Sectional or the PG pilot was flying cross country away from that area on the map.
Gerda Sprinchorn for warmth - it's cold at high altitude.
Given the low state of Western Culture, we should be glad she didn't strip for the camera and hump her parachute.
Coming in on a wing and a prayer
Coming in on a wing and a prayer
Though there's one motor gone
We can still carry on
I've always been puzzled why the so-called "God" doesnt measure up to my standards.
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