The next story tells the background of the paraglider accident and the rescue operation that happened on 11 th of September 11, 2024, Wednesday afternoon from three different point of view. Feri is the paraglider, who suffered the accident, Joci, his friend who tried to help him by himself and finally from the aspect of BMSZ – the Hungarian Cave Rescue service, who performed the rescue.
Feri, the paraglider: It started out to be a pretty ideal time for a long-distance flight. I managed to be the first to take off from Vértesszőlős and the first to land in Szárliget... I watched 5 paragliders in disgust as they flew about 300-400 meters above me and survived... That's okay, it is how it is. I decided to go back because the bad weather was coming and I wanted to fly before it. After 3 o'clock in the afternoon I was at the starting point again, with 3 other pilots. I sulked and told that it didn't work out at Szárliget, so now I do not even plan to go far, I would only fly locally. I took off after half past four, and almost immediately the current lifted me up with an ascent of over 1,000 meters. So I decided to head for Tornyópuszta - to my surprise, everything worked out well...
heading back towards Tarján... around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, I managed to get myself up to 1400 meters, and the wind wasn't too strong either. I decided to try to fly back to Vértesszőlős, or at least to Vértestolna. The accelerator and the parachute were stable, air was minimally turbulent... then came the bad decision... I tried what happens with the full accelerator. The parachute disappeared in a second and pulled me back, I thought it was good, but when it appeared again it was in a rosette, I was surprised. The parachute I used was a Gin Boomerang GTO in good condition, freshly serviced and trimmed. (not a particularly deadly D-shaped chute... I was about 500 meters away when it was tied together... (quick brainstorming, if it opens again it will be very low and may be on the downward side... it will definitely end up in a tree... I did not hesitate too much, I threw out the rescue parachute, which opened almost immediately, pulled me in. I looked down ... and saw that there was a rock face under me... you could not prepare for that.
I fell onto the top of the almost vertical rock ledge with my stomach. From there, if I remember correctly, I slipped another approximately 10 meters before the parachute caught me. From here there was 20 meters of nothing below me...
It took me a while before I could think again, regain my consciousness, it must have been after 6 o'clock in the evening.
I was not able to feel my left leg, but it could be moved, my left hand was trapped under me. There was a tree stump under my stomach that pressed so hard I could barely breathe... My neck hurt, I was not able to move it, my right hand was free, but the phone was in a pocket on my other side that I could not reach...
If I remember correctly, after 7:00 p.m., I was somehow able to get out my phone.By then the strap had squeezed my legs and other vitalparts so much that I only managed to reach Joci in terrible pain. He immediately threw the his alpine gear in his car and called for more help and set off...
Joci, the paraglider's friend: It was quite a good "Grape Season" (slang for: flying time from Vértesszőlős – szőlő=grape in Hungarian), many of us flew that day. After my long-distance flight, I arrived back at the landing at around 7 o'clock in the evening. I did not know anything about our two companions, one of them uploaded the flight, did not fly far, but still did not make it back to the parking lot. I called him. He was on his way back, but because of a traffic jam he was late. That's fine, I thought. The other one, who was worse off, didn't upload for the flight, did not picked up the phone and his car was still in the parkin place. He called back after about an hour. He got stuck on the rock wall at Pes-kő, he couldn't climb back because he was in great pain, he didn't pick up the phone because of the shock, maybe he lost consciousness, I took my alpine gear and set off.
In the meantime, I called the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service (BMSZ) to say that I don't know what has happened, nor exactly where it happened, but I knew that this is will be no simple rescue from a tree. There is an injured person and I probably cannot solve the task on my own. They stet off immediately. I also called the local tree rescue specialist, but they were not at home. I arrived at the mountain in complete darkness. I got the coordinates of the position from the injured person, but when I went there it turned out to be wrong...
We were in constant phone contact, his voice was not reassuring. I told him to stand on the edge of the cliff and shout. I could not hear it. I went 100-200 meters away, again. I still could not hear him. After about five or six such attempts, I heard him and managed to get above him. I tied the rope to a tree, lowered myself to him and attached him to the rope. I transmitted the position to the BMSZ, and agreed on the fact that since his leg, stomach and neck hurt, but his situation does not seem to be life-threatening, I do not try to save him by myself, I just keep an eye on him and keep him in company.
About half an hour later, the first members of the rescue team of BMSZ arrived, they came down to the injured, I climbed up and, apart from a few phone calls, my role was over. I only participated in the task again in taking down and gathering the parachute, well after midnight.
Feri: If I remember correctly, Joci was able to reach me after 8 p.m., unfortunately he was physically unable to help.
The first cave rescuer arrived to me later, after that I cannot remember much due to the effects of the applied medicines.
They sawed out the tree stump from under my stomach, cut my harness to pieces so they could turn me over. It was around midnight when they managed to haul me up. By the time I got to the ambulance.
I had a fever over 41°C and my EKG was quite bad, which is why the ambulance stopped twice to consult with the hospital ... because of the suspension syndrome, after all this time, it can lead to a collapse of circulation.
Hungarian Cave Rescue Service (BMSz): In the life of the BMSz, it has happened more than once that we had to leave our practice session for a real life rescue. But until this night, however, it has not happened that the service had to the depart for rescue from one of our celebrations. On this evening, BMSz remembered its past at a large-scale party, and we celebrated our old friends, our former cave rescue predecessors who are still with us. At the end of the formal part of the event, at the beginning of the party, at 8 p.m., an emergency call came, requesting our assistance...
An Immediate departure was organised to the site, picking up the rescue equipment from the our warehouse on the way. In the meantime, we called the members of the Bakony Cave Rescue Service from Tatabánya, because they were much closer to the location.
The BMSz arrived at the scene with 20 and the Bakonyi Cave Rescue Service with 3 specialist. The Bakony Rescue team was the first on the site. They immediately descended and began to examine the victim and administer first aid. Meanwhile, the instalment of the rescue ropeways and the clearing of vegetation from the route began, so as the BMSZ arrived from Budapest, the most important thing was that our doctor could get down safely as soon as possible and start providing advanced care.
The pilot who crashed into the rock wall was found with severe bruises all over his body, a head injury and what appeared to be a serious suspension syndrome, partially hanging on a narrow ledge on the vertical rock wall, partially trapped and helpless. He was situated approximately 20 meters below the touristic trail. His lower left limb was clamped by his own paraglider harness - the one that otherwise protected him from falling down the cliff face. The harness was held in place by ropes caught on the top of the rock wall. As part of the advanced medical care, a strong intravenous narcotic pain reliever was administered, which was able to reduce the already unbearable pain. On the first few meters, we pulled Feri up to a wider rock ledge in his own harness - we deemed this safer on the nearly vertical, narrow section. From there, we transferred him to our special stretcher, after removed his own harness. The inner and outer straps of the cave rescue stretcher are suitable for properly securing the injured, so that it can even be transported vertically on ropeways.
Approaching , medical examination, treatment and rescue of the injured could only be done on ropes and using hauling systems. While the injured received medical attention, the rescue team built these ropeways and hauling systems. The task had to be solved with parallel ropeways, so that our doctor could accompany the injured person during the entire transport process, by moving right next to him, monitoring his condition, and if necessary, she could intervene and administer medicine. The entire operation took place in complete darkness - this was not a problem for us, since we have to work in a similar environment and conditions in the cave, everyone has a light on their helmet.
In addition to the cave rescuers, professional and volunteer firefighting units of the Disaster Management took part in the rescue. After the rope rescue part the stretcher with the patient was transported on the on foot on the touristic path by the firefighters, rescuers and cave rescuers. After reaching a dozer-road used by the forestry, the injured person was transported by all-terrain vehicle. The when reaching to the ambulave car of the National Rescue Service from Tatabánya he was handed to the rescue unit. The ambulance took the seriously injured person to the hospital in Tatabánya for further treatment.
Joci: What the Hungarian Cave Rescue Servive did in terms of both alpine technique and medical care was brilliant. They are real professionals. The rescue parachute with which Feri landed was an uncontrollable type, so he landed in the worst possible place, on the rock face. Fortunately, however, the parachute also got stuck and there was also a small rock ledge, so he did not fall into the abyss.
The case highlighted the need for "live", i.e. live position sharing. With this, we could have found the injured person much earlier, which could have even been decisive in the situation. I recommend its use to all pilots.
Feri: Lesson: It doesn't cost anything, don't be ashamed to turn on live position sharing even if you fly a little, especially if the goal is long-distance flying. I am very sorry that I added to the sport in this way, I hope that most people are not angry with me for this! I wish everyone a safe landing!
BMSz: Today's rescue ended almost exactly at the same time and date as the successful rescue in the Morca cave in Turkey last year. Most of the medical duties of both rescues were performed by dr. Zsófia Zádor, Zudi.
We wish the injured paraglider a speedy recovery and many more beautiful flights. We sincerely thank the rescuers, firefighters, and volunteers participating in today's rescue for their support, help, and cooperation.
Photos: Zoltán Kiss, Márton Kovács