Hermann Geiger (27 October 1914 - 26 August 1966) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

and

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

pilot whose heroic actions gave him national hero status in Switzerland. Known as "The Glacier Pilot," he pioneered the art of landing his Piper PA-18 on

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s in the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

like no other. In over 600 rescue missions, he managed to land his specially modified aircraft under extreme conditions on snow-covered glaciers. He often had to carry the injured people by himself in subzero temperatures and blizzard conditions to get them safely aboard his plane. Geiger once said, "To save lives, you must risk your own". He died from injuries suffered in a fatal collision with a glider at the age of 52. In aviation history, Geiger is the first man to successfully land on a glacier and one of the first mountain rescuers.

Biography

Geigers was from Sion in

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

, Switzerland, the son of a farmer. His love of flying began at the age of ten when he went to an

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

club for the first time. He began working as a

mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...

when he was fifteen at a garage. He built his own glider and took gliding lessons as a young man. In 1940, he trained to become a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

, giving flying lessons in his spare time. He was the first man to land his plane on Kanderfirm, a 7,800-foot glacier in Switzerland. He modified his Piper plane with retractable metal skies, enabling him, after much practice, to land on glaciers and mountains where most would not dare. On 16 July 1953, he also successfully landed on the summit of

Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...

glacier. Geiger was known as the ''Eagle from Sion'' or ''King of Mountain Pilots''. He wrote a book: ''Alpine Pilot'' first published in 1956 and translated into English by Alan Tuppen. It is a concise and interesting personal account of his achievement and joy of flying and has a real place in Alpine history alongside all the best. Hermann Geiger was a world-renowned Gletscherpilot and one of the founders of the Swiss Air Rescue (Rega). He was the inventor of a landing technique for snow slopes to rescue climbers in distress. He led more than 600 daring rescues with his single-engine Piper PA-18 through the high mountains. In 1958, he played himself in a semi-documentary Swiss feature film called
SOS Glacier Pilot
' in 1959. Geiger was also a member of th

On 26 August 1966, he was flying with a student at the Sion airport when they collided with a glider. Geiger died from injuries as a result of the accident. A few days later, many people attended his funeral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geiger, Hermann Swiss aviators 1914 births 1966 deaths Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Switzerland Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1966