Moment gyrocopter bursts into flames after getting caught in overhead wires in Italy, killing two
The pilot and his passenger were killed instantly
Harrowing footage has captured the moment a gyrocopter burst into flames mid-air after flying into cable car lines, killing two people.
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A passerby captured the crash at around 11.30 am on Wednesday in Piedmont, near the Italian Alps.
The gyrocopter – which only seats two – flew into the overhead lines over the border of Italy and Switzerland before immediately spinning out of control.
The aircraft exploded into a huge fireball shortly after, plummeting to the ground on a grassy area near the shores of Lake Campliccioli.
The pilot and his passenger were killed instantly.
The victims have been named as engineer Alessandro Angelo Muscinelli, 62, and his sister-in-law Antonella Pagliarani, 63, from Milan.
Local mayor Franco Borsotti, who witnessed the horror collision, told local media: “I saw the scene from the balcony of my home: the helicopter was flying, then I saw a fireball.
“There is no doubt that it caught fire when it touched the cables of the cableway that leads to Camposecco.”
The cable car lines are a service cableway used by Italian energy utility Enel to access the dam below.
A gyrocopter caught a cable line and crashed near a dam in northern Italy. Killing two. pic.twitter.com/kPqmADzylb
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 26, 2026
Emergency services rushed to the scene, including several helicopters.
The fire brigade, rescue personnel, law enforcement and the Alpine Rescue Service of the Guardia di Finanza also attended.
It is not the first aircraft crash over the Italian mountains.
In May, a British pilot was killed after his plane crashed into a mountain over the Alps during a flying competition.
In May 2021, a cable car on the Stresa–Mottarone line near Lake Maggiore plunged to the ground after a support cable snapped around 100 metres from the summit station.
Fourteen people were killed, including a nine-year-old boy who later died in hospital after being airlifted with serious injuries.