“When the engine loses power, the plane starts to crash. As this happened I thought: “Wh, now I’m crashing”. Then I just tried to level the plane at the slope… I was lucky». Not even 24 hours ago Silvia (her surname de Bon) brought to the ground the small plane on which she was flying with her brother Mattia and her girlfriend, Giorgia Qualizza. Without engine, pure planing, it landed among the peaks of Lagorai. She stuff that Top guns don’t even dream of. Now, the 22-year-old from Longarone is hospitalized in Trento hospital. From the bed in her room, a short-term surgery department, the pilot retraces and recounts the moments of theaccident that occurred on Wednesday 28 December, at an altitude of 2,100 metres, in the heart of the Trentino Dolomites. Silvia guided Piper’s glide, arresting it one hundred meters below the «Paolo and Nicola» bivouac in Val di Fiemme. The emergency maneuver saved three young lives (Mattia is 27 years old, Giorgia one more). Silvia has a collar around her neck, bandages on the left side of her face and some back pain. In real life you are head of hospitality at the Alaska hotel in Cortina d’Ampezzo. In the mountains, on the other hand, the area where the tourist plane, a Piper PA28, is located, has been made safe. On Thursday morning, in fact, the helicopter unit of the Province of Trento transported the Saf unit of the permanent body of the firefighters of the capital to the foot of Cima Cece: the vehicle was anchored to a boulder so that it did not slip towards the valley, while the tank has been emptied. The Alpine Rescue of the financial police is also on the spot for the investigations within its competence: there is a double investigation into the case, by the National Flight Safety Association (ANSV) and by the Trento Public Prosecutor’s Office.
What do you remember of those moments?
«We had to fly over the top of Cece, we were passing over it, but between the cold and the thinner air the engine lost power and dropped in revs. I got just below the summit and tried to pull my plane up, but after the engine dies down at a certain speed, it starts to crash. I just thought to myself “Wh, now I’m crashing”. Then I just attempted to smooth the plane to the slope. I was lucky, from the moment of the bang to the next instant I don’t have a precise memory but a void».
From what moment do you remember?
“Since I woke up. I had the left side of my face full of blood after hitting my head against the glass. With my brother Mattia and his girlfriend Giorgia (Qualizza, ed) we got out of the vehicle: he called the 112 emergency number, sending his exact position, I took care to call the Aeroclub Belluno (owner of the Piper PA28), warning of what had happened. Also because it was late, 4.25 pm, and I had to go home».
Was the movement he finally made the right one?
“Normally it’s wrong, because the more you pull, the more the speed decreases and the plane falls. Knowing I was going into the mountain, I did everything I could to level the plane against the slope, landing on my belly. If I had crashed straight, I would have destroyed the nose and the consequences would have been worse. Just as if I had tried to go back: I would have hit the ridge and destroyed the entire side of the Piper. At that moment the right thing was probably to do so ».
What route did you decide to take?
«With Mattia and Giorgia, we wanted to take a post-Christmas leisure trip. We started from Belluno and wanted to go to Bolzano. Before heading to South Tyrol, however, we made a stop in Trento. So, after Bolzano, we wanted to go back via Cortina d’Ampezzo, but since it was too late, we decided to cut through Predazzo, so as to get to Feltre and finally return to Belluno. Then there was the accident.”
Your father Ettore said that the plane had problems right from the start, is that true?
«Yes, but ignition problems have nothing to do with engine revving problems, it’s a cause that often happens to airplanes when the air is cold. You have to give a little more power to the engine to turn it on, by carrying out a precise procedure».
Do Mattia and Giorgia remember anything about the accident?
«I know they have seen everything, but honestly I have not asked them anything. I am only afraid to ask them about the feelings they have felt. Giorgia told me that she saw the whole scene, and that she also had the moment of impact in her eyes».
She had just returned from the US.
«Precisely at the end of November, where I obtained the American patent. To get to the commercial license, in fact, you need to accumulate hours of experience, which we call “filling”. I went there, flew as much as I needed and returned to Italy».
After escaping this tragedy, will she fly again or will she please her father who she hopes will stop?
“I’m sorry, but I don’t listen to my father. I always tell him: “If all the people who get into a car accident stopped driving, no one would drive anymore”. It is true that when you are in the air things are not the same, but the concept is similar. If I have an accident I don’t get scared, I have the determination, I want to become an airline pilot, like the Ryanair ones. It could have happened to anyone and also on other occasions: if I had been on the road, returning home, or if I was heading to the airport ».
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