A two-seater gyrocopter erupted into a fireball after hitting cableway wires, killing both people on board.
Pilot Alessandro Angelo Muscinelli, 62, and passenger Antonella Pagliarani, 63, died in the crash yesterday morning (26 August).
The aircraft was flying in the area of an artificial lake at around 1,400m (4,593ft) above sea level when it struck the cables of a service cableway owned by energy company Enel.
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It then caught fire and crashed to the ground near the dam, as reported by Need To Know.
The incident took place near the Campliccioli dam in Antrona Schieranco, Italy.
The horror unfolded at around 11.10am, with Antrona Schieranco mayor Franco Borsotti witnessing the incident.
He told local media: “I saw the scene from the balcony of my home: the helicopter was flying, then I saw a fireball.
“There is no doubt that it caught fire when it touched the cables of the cableway that leads to Camposecco.”
He said the cables were at least 100m (328ft) above the ground, adding the area was within the Upper Antrona Valley Natural Park.
“Normally, aircraft do not fly there, and it appears they did not request permission,” he said.
“In any case, the cableway has been there for 60 years; it cannot fail to be marked on the maps.”
The crash was witnessed by Muscinelli’s brother, who was in the area at the time.
Muscinelli, who lived in Premeno, was a member of the Croce Alata flying association based at the Megolo airfield, where he had kept the gyrocopter for around two years.
His friend Matteo Gasparini told local media that Muscinelli had first become interested in flying around 15 years ago after doing a tandem paragliding flight with him.
He later obtained his gyrocopter licence and was described by Gasparini as “precise, very precise” and passionate about engines.
Pagliarani lived in Milan and was Muscinelli’s brother’s partner.
Emergency crews were sent to the scene, but neither occupant could be saved.
The Verbania Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the crash, with authorities examining its exact circumstances and whether the flight had the necessary authorisation to operate in the area.
The aircraft was a gyrocopter, also known as an autogyro or gyroplane – a light aircraft that resembles a small helicopter but whose overhead rotor is not directly powered by the engine.
Instead, the rotor spins through airflow as the aircraft moves forward, while a separate propeller provides forward thrust.
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