Helicopter pilot testifies about cable car deaths

An Austrian court in Innsbruck today began hearing testimony from a helicopter pilot involved in a cable car accident that killed nine German skiers, including six children.

The pilot, 36-year-old Markus Jaeger, maintained his innocence in the accident, in which the helicopter he was flying dropped heavy equipment on a ski lift.

The equipment – a tub used to transport concrete – struck a cable car line near the Soelden ski resort, sending one gondola crashing 100ft to the ground and catapulting several people from other gondolas.

In addition to the nine who were killed, seven other people were injured in the September 5, 2005 incident.

Jaeger apologized to the family members of those killed and said he had seen no problem with the chosen flying route.

“It was, from my point of view, the best possible route,” Jaeger said in comments quoted by the Austria Press Agency.

All other routes would have been “unthinkable” because there were people on the slopes and paths, he said.