IS Egidio Gavazzi, 84, the man who died later to the crash of an ultralight plane near the ‘Gino Allegri’ entrance in Padua. The aircraft hit the ground and caught fire. On board there was only Gavazzi, born in 1937 in Erba, province of Como and resident in Milan. The elderly man died practically on the spot and his body was transported to the morgue of the civil hospital in Padua, the carabinieri said.
Who was Egidio Gavazzi
Gavazzi was the editor and founder of the magazines Airone and Acqua. He was a naturalist, photographer, journalist, promoter of important environmental battles, fond of animals and descendant of a noble Lombard family. In the 1980s he founded the magazine Airone, which published nature reportages. In 2005 he wrote a book about one of his great passions: flying, precisely. His father was an Air Force pilot officer, and three of his four younger brothers also flew. In 1954 he took the gliding license, four years later that of an airplane and then that of a helicopter. “I love a plane as a stable girl can love a horse,” he said. And again: “Flight is the metaphor of life. And as for life, a journey has to be long and adventurous”. He always flew, right up to the end and lost his life on a plane. “Those who as children feel the desire to fly choose a bird in which to imagine themselves. I chose the kite. Predator, individualist and vagabond”.
The accident at Padua airport
According to what is learned, Gavazzi left at 10 from Bresso, in the province of Milan. Three hours later he was landing at Padua airport, but he lost control of the aircraft and, in an attempt to rise from the ground, he crashed into a tree. The plane then crashed into the corner of the apron in front of the airport entrance. Investigators speculate that Gavazzi realized he was ending up on a building and veered desperately to try to avoid it. The aircraft was destroyed by the flames. His niece was waiting for him at the airport. She too, like several passers-by, witnessed the terrible tragedy.