Now the canton also wants to purchase an underwater robot.
Rescued from 182 meters – thanks to Zurich help: the accident car on Axenstrasse.
An accident moves Switzerland. Coming from the south, a car with Zurich license plates drove along the winding Axenstrasse in the direction of Brunnen last Sunday. Suddenly it collides with the rock face on the mountain side and starts to skid. A wheel is ripped off and flies into an oncoming vehicle. The accident car gets into the oncoming lane and smashes through the railing.
Then it falls.
First the approximately 50 meters to the surface of Lake Lucerne and then further and further under water. The lake is around 180 meters deep at this point.
There was only one person in the car at this time. She sinks down with the car.
That was on Sunday. Only three days later can the car be recovered from the lake. It was so deep that no diver could reach it – 182 meters below the surface of the water.
The accident car lay on the bottom of the lake, inaccessible to divers
Old ship, modern technology
A ship belonging to the Zurich cantonal police played a central role in the salvage work in Lake Lucerne. And not just any: The Weidling, built by the Meier company, was built in 1972, but is equipped with a state-of-the-art underwater camera. Thanks to this camera, the car could be localized in Lake Lucerne, its position on the bottom of the lake determined and the emergency services instructed for a successful rescue.
The Weidling of the Zurich cantonal police (left) during the rescue under the Axenstrasse. It has a special underwater camera and is unique in Switzerland.
The work in the lake has not been easy in the last few days, as the cantonal police wrote at the request of the NZZ. “For the work with the camera ship, it has to be as calm as possible in the water,” says media spokesman Patrick Céréda. “For this reason, anchor points had to be attached to the rock face first.”
The salvage work lasted three days. Every day the police officers, divers and helpers take a step further. Monday: The license plate of the car is recovered – it is a Zurich license plate. Tuesday: The cantonal police’s camera boat starts the search – and finds the car. Wednesday: The rescue works on the second attempt.
Unique in Switzerland
The use of a Zurich police ship in another canton is nothing unusual, writes the cantonal police. She is regularly asked for such assignments. The number of missions varies from year to year and is in the single digits. The success rate: 80 percent.
According to the canton police, the Zurich camera ship is unique in Switzerland. Its underwater camera is equipped with a 110° lens and a steel camera body. She can see down to a depth of 400 meters. The boat also has special cables up to 300 meters long, three spotlights and two color monitors on which the images can be evaluated on site. A crew of three is needed to use the ship for salvage work. It is not huge at 6.5 meters and has a power of 60 hp.
The boat was originally purchased for use in Lake Zurich. At its deepest point, it is 136 meters deep. “The police divers can no longer operate at this depth, which is why such a camera ship is necessary,” writes media spokesman Patrick Céréda.
Good cooperation between the cantons
The ship is also popular with other cantons for delicate operations such as those on the Axenstrasse. In the current case, the Schwyz cantonal police had asked their Zurich colleagues for help.
The salvage of the accident car in Lake Lucerne is also an example of successful cooperation between the cantonal police corps. The Zurich government councilor and security director Mario Fehr (independent) says: “We are happy to support other cantons with specialists. That’s a matter of course for me.”
Two salvage ships at the scene of the accident on Axenstrasse, where a car left the road when it wolf jumped.
The last comparable case occurred in October 2021 in Lake Zug. At that time, a motorboat had sunk together with the boatman – to a depth of 200 meters. The salvage work that followed was a paragon of intercantonal cooperation: the Zurich camera ship helped out, as did a contingent of police divers from Schwyz and an underwater robot from the canton of Geneva.
Canton police want underwater robots
The cantonal police in Zurich now want to buy such a robot, as they write to the NZZ. A submission process is currently underway. The robot is intended to support the camera ship and divers in searching and recovering at great depths of water.
A special feature: The robot should have its own sonar system – i.e. the device that uses sound waves to search for objects under water. The sonar search is currently being carried out with a transmitter that police divers have to carry from the boat. According to the canton police, a remote-controlled robot could be used to search for people and objects even more precisely in the future.
However, rescuing an accident victim like the one from Axenstrasse alive will not be possible, even with robots. The water is too deep and deadly in such places.
The victim has since been identified, police said. It is said that his family is being cared for by professionals.