Tragedy in the skies above Lanzada, Valtellina: helicopter crash, one dead and three injured.

A high-altitude work mission turned tragic on the morning of Thursday, December 4th, in Valtellina. Around 8:30 a.m., a helicopter engaged in overflight and monitoring operations over a landslide area crashed in the Lanzada area of ​​Valmalenco, within the municipality of Sondrio. According to initial reports, the aircraft struck a rock face while at low altitude, lost control, and crashed in a particularly inaccessible part of the valley.

There were four people on board, all technicians and workers involved in securing the mountain after the landslide on November 11th. At first, it seemed that all the passengers had survived, but one of them—a worker—died shortly after being admitted to the Sondrio hospital.

Lanzada, a municipality of just under 1.200 inhabitants located at 1,000 meters above sea level near the Swiss border, is a mountainous area accustomed to landslides, mudslides, and geological hazards. High-altitude technical operations like those carried out by the workers involved require precision, experience, and often the use of aircraft to reach areas inaccessible by land.

Flying over the landslide and hitting the rock

The aircraft, a private helicopter used for work at height, was performing a technical flight in the Lanzada area, where the three workers on board were to be left on the ground to perform checks and direct inspections of the area affected by the landslide. During an approach phase, likely due to its close proximity to the surface, the helicopter struck a rock—or, according to some accounts, a branch—and immediately began to lose balance.

The maneuver by the pilot, Maurizio Folini, an experienced helicopter rescuer known for his missions on Everest, would have prevented an even more violent fall. Nevertheless, the impact was devastating, scattering the passengers across the slope below.

The victim and the conditions of the injured

The deceased man, Tommaso Diaz Ledesma, was 29 years old and one of the workers involved in clearing away the unstable material. He was rescued and rushed to Sondrio Hospital, where he died shortly after arriving in the emergency department.

The other three passengers—a 27-year-old woman and two men, ages 54 and 60—received minor injuries. Among them was pilot Folini. Despite the severity of the incident, his condition is not cause for concern.

The complex rescue operations

The alarm was raised immediately, activating a massive emergency response effort. The Drago 166 helicopter from the Lombardy Fire Department's flight unit flew over the area to precisely pinpoint the impact points. It was during one of these aerial reconnaissance missions that the body of the deceased worker was discovered, further down the valley from the crash site, in the inaccessible area of ​​Le Prese.

Two rescuers were lowered by winch to reach the injured and provide first aid. Given the criticality of the situation, support was requested from the Areu 118 air ambulance, while the Alpine and Speleological Rescue team, the SAF fire department teams, and the Carabinieri of Sondrio operated simultaneously on the ground. The difficult terrain and steepness of the mountain made the operation particularly delicate.

Investigations and securing the area

Once the initial rescue operations were completed, technicians from the Fire Brigade's Flight Unit began securing the wreckage to allow the Carabinieri and specialists from the Guardia di Finanza's Alpine Rescue team to proceed with mapping the area. The area is now under lockdown to allow investigators to precisely determine the cause of the accident.

Initial hypotheses include an accidental impact with a rock ledge during landing, but other possibilities are not ruled out, given the weather conditions and the rugged nature of the location. Inspection and safety operations will continue until the aircraft is fully recovered and the exact dynamics are reconstructed.