What happened
On November 11, 2021, at approximately 06:48 UTC, a Cessna P210N departed from Hohenems Airport (LOIH) in Vorarlberg, Austria, for a planned VFR flight to Memmingen, Germany. Shortly after takeoff from runway 05, the aircraft disappeared from the view of the duty airfield manager due to encroaching fog.
Shortly after the aircraft became obscured by fog, an unidentifiable noise was heard, and the aircraft could no longer be heard. The airfield manager attempted to establish radio contact with the pilot, but there was no response. At approximately 06:50 UTC, the aircraft collided with a rock face in the Unterklien quarry, located about 1,800 meters east of the runway threshold. The impact caused a post-crash fire that destroyed the aircraft. The pilot sustained fatal injuries.
The investigation
The Austrian Federal Safety Investigation Board (SUB) reconstructed the flight path using eyewitness accounts, ADS-B data, and investigations by the Vorarlberg State Criminal Police Office. The investigation examined the aircraft's maintenance history, the pilot's flight preparations, and the prevailing meteorological conditions at the time of departure. Technical examinations of the aircraft's autopilot selector panel were also conducted, specifically looking at the condition of the altitude and flight director indicator filaments.