Hannes Arch

Hannes Arch was an Austrian pilot, born in Leoben on 22 September 1967 and raised in Trofaiach, who became the first Austrian to compete in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. He earned his place by winning a qualifying round in Phoenix in October 2006, then raced in the series from 2007 until 2016. After finishing tenth in his first season, he won races in Budapest and Porto in 2008 and was crowned world champion in Perth that November. He took the opening race of 2009 in Abu Dhabi and ended that year as runner-up to Paul Bonhomme, flying a Zivko Edge 540 like most pilots in the series. Beyond air racing he was a certified mountain and ski guide, performed base jumps from the north faces of the Eiger and the Matterhorn, and devised the Red Bull X-Alps paragliding race. He died on 8 September 2016 in a helicopter crash in the Austrian Alps.