The Italian authorities have issued a NOTAM, banning all hang gliding and paragliding on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, until midnight on 12 October 2015.
The NOTAM, dated 16 July 2015, came from the Protection Civile de la Vallée d’Aoste and follows a reminder from the French minister of foreign affairs (MAE) on 8 July for pilots to respect the restricted zone that has been in place on the French side since October 2008.
The latter bans flying in the red regions on the map below, from 1 July to 31 August every year, and says that:
Anybody who overflies this area, voluntarily or involuntarily, risks criminal prosecution, fines and the confiscation of their flying equipment.
The MAE strongly advise pilots against flying over or around the Mont Blanc massif, even in the unrestricted areas, saying that the aerology of the Italian (North) side can be particularly turbulent and the winds strong.
This reminder followed the deaths at the beginning of July of three experienced French pilots, including sports teacher and popular local pilot Hélène Ménoni, whose body was found above the Glacier de Miage after she disappeared during a flying tour of the mountain.
The main contributing factor to these accidents was thought to be the strong winds at high altitude, the Italian side being in the lee and therefore experiencing a lot of turbulence.
The French newspaper Le Dauphine reported that helicopter recovery of one of the victims had been hampered by the presence of other paragliders in the air, and that the recovery ultimately had to be made on foot. The Italian free flight association, the FIVL, agreed that the presence of paragliders in the area seriously hampers search and rescue operations, and acknowledge that it is difficult for pilots to know what to do should they see a helicopter in the area, since they do not know its intended flight path.
They have propsed the use of smoke to demarcate a rescue site where a helicopter needs to hover. If pilots see a helicopter releasing smoke they should evacuate the area, safely. They also suggest the use of a security radio channel (as there is in France, with the French free flight association (FFVL)’s safety channel: 143.9875MHz) which pilots should listen to for instructions on vacating an area if necessary.
The FIVL, in collaboration with the Network Radio Montana, have proposed the adoption of PMR channel 8-16 for safety communications. Although this could go some way towards addressing the problem, not all pilots carry PMR radios and if the broadcasts are in Italian, it is likely they would not be understood by all pilots in the area. Pilots carrying VHF radios could scan the FFVL’s safety channel, but this also broadcasts in French, and it would require any messages from the Italian side to be relayed to the French for broadcasting.
The FIVL’s publication, in Italian, is here, and there is further reading in English, published by the FFVL, here, on the subject of flying Mont Blanc, with safety information.
A Mont Blanc safety bulletin for paragliders, in French, from the FFVL can be found here.
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