Plane crash Alps: Hunt for survivors under way after plane mysteriously crashes into hard-to-reach mountainous terrain

A six-seater light-weight aircraft plunged into the mountainous area near Brandnertal, western Austria near the Swiss border yesterday (Monday 26 August). The plane was on its way from Italy when it suddenly crashed in a remote area.

The town’s mayor Klaus Bitschi raised the alarm shortly after 10am, the Vol reports, and mountain search and rescue teams were deployed. Their efforts to search for the survivors and the missing fuselage of the plane have been hampered by dense fog.

The fog grounded the search helicopter. Pictures surfaced showing the search and rescue teams waiting by the helicopter parked up on a football pitch in Brand bei Bludenz as it was unable to fly yet due to bad weather.

Around 100 emergency responders are attended the incident including mountain rescue, the fire service, police and the Red Cross near the crash site which is thought to be in the Lower Brüggele Area, Puls24 reports. It is thought the plane had one person on board, the outlet reports citing Austro Control, a navigation services provider which controls the country’s airspace.

But it remains unclear how many passengers were on board the private plane. The plane is reportedly a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron 58 model from 1978.