Another news piece on the Chilean pilot. In the photo the Discus BT
has the engine extended. I wonder if it didn't start... Or the
downdrafts were too strong for the engine.

http://diario.latercera.com/2010/11/...traviado.shtml

FORMER CLASSMATE RESCUES LOST GLIDER PILOT

José Auil Petermann walked 15 km. and spent 48 hours without food
after an emergency landing.

"He was walking. There was no place to land and I had to lift him with
the helicopter, 'barely'. I placed a ski on the ground and he
jumped." That's how former Air Force officer Eduardo Boisset Fach
(47) yesterday remembered the moment when he rescued the glider pilot
who was missing since Sunday afternoon in the precordillera area of
Putaendo.

The rescuer was not there by chance. He had been a classmate of the
missing pilot, Jose Auil Petermann (46), at the Craighouse School, and
joined the search on Monday for the aircraft, after a mutual friend
asked him to support the searches.

So at 9:30am yesterday,(Wednesday) Boisset and two volunteer firemen
took off in a civilian helicopter from the town of Putaendo to the
lake Copin sector, where the last contact with the pilot had been
registered. While flying over the area, another aircraft that
supported the search informed them that they had seen the Schempp-
Hirth, Discus BT glider, 60 km north of Cerro El Copin, in the Los
Pelambres sector. It was 10:00am and the rescue leaders Boisset told
him to move to the area and descend.

"He was first located by a plane that was flying over and gave me the
position. He obviously couldn't land there. I landed, I saw the
glider, but didn't find the pilot," recalls the former officer. The
glider was between Cerro Negro and Cerro del Mercedario, besides the
river of the same name. It showed damage to the tail, but the cabin
was intact, but empty.

According to the rescuer, he overflew the sector for a while and then
descended again to inspect the ship. "I started down the river to look
for him but couldn't find him. And I started wondering. I returned by
helicopter and began look at the glider, to see if he had left a
note," recalled Boisset.

Then, in the ship's fuselage, next to the cabin, he found a message
written by Auil. It said: "I'm OK. I fell at 16.30pm. I'm going
downstream. I left at 18.15pm." (Sunday)

Boisset decided to board the helicopter and fly downstream (in that
area, the river flows east). After 10 kilometers, already in Argentine
territory, he spotted the dentist walking in a rocky area. Since he
couldn't land in that area, Boisset chose to bring the helicopter as
close as possible so that Auil could jump inside.

The pilot reported the rescue and then proceeded to drop off the
firefighters in Putaendo. From there he flew to the Las Condes
clinic, so that Auil could undergo a checkup. At that time, his wife,
Maite Rodriguez, already knew he was safe and sound.

BREAD, WATER AND ONION

Auil had been 48 hours without eating and walked 15 kilometers.

After being rescued he said that the weather conditions he faced on
Sunday forced the experienced glider pilot from the Vitacura glider
club into an emergency landing in the Andean foothills. He then
followed the aviation protocols: leave a message and go seek help.

He had food and water for at least 24 hours and along the way he met
with two farm workers who gave him food and water. According to his
wife, Maite Rodriguez, Auil "has plenty of survival experience and
used all the tools he had available. He consumed bread, water and
onion." (the farm workers gave him water and onion).

In the clinic, Auil told medical staff that as the hours passed and no
help came, he faced moments of weakness. "He fought against evil
thoughts. He sang and recited, and I think he has given us a very good
example of what the struggle for survival can be," said Dr. May
Chomalí, Director of Medical Services at the Clinica Las Condes.

Isabel, Auil's sister, said "people's energy and God's help,"
accompanied the pilot.