Over twelve years after the accident
Schumi accident: Rescue helicopter pilot speaks
Updated May 29, 2026 – 5:54 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
A team was sent directly to the scene of the accident in the French Alps to rescue the Formula 1 grandee. One person involved now comments on the operation – and remembers his first reaction.
It has now been over twelve years since Michael Schumacher’s serious skiing accident. On December 29, 2013, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion had a serious accident in Méribel in the French Alps. To date, nothing is known about his state of health.
Now the pilot of the rescue helicopter that transported “Schumi” to the hospital has remembered the day of the accident and what happened when the racing driver was rescued.
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On the fateful day, he was on duty as a pilot for “SAF Hélicoptères”, a company for medical emergency transport and mountain rescue, recalls Yannick Dainese in the French sports magazine “L’Équipe”. His team then received an urgent emergency call from the Méribel ski area, an injured person had to be taken to a hospital as quickly as possible.
Who the injured person was was not initially mentioned – but only at the scene after landing: “A rescuer jumped out of the helicopter with the doctor and said to me: ‘We’re going to Schumacher now.'” At first he didn’t take the statement seriously. “I thought he was joking at first,” Dainese recalls. “But when the incident commander ordered us to turn off our microphones and GoPro cameras and forbid journalists from accompanying us, I realized it was true.”
“He was worshiped as God”
According to his memories, the runway was immediately closed. Only Schumacher, his entourage and the rescue workers were on site. There was hardly any conversation during the rescue. Together with a colleague, he secured the seriously injured man on a vacuum mattress and brought him to the helicopter. He then took him to Grenoble for emergency treatment on a 25-minute flight.
Although he said he wasn’t a big Formula 1 fan, he was aware of Schumacher’s importance for the sport: “I subconsciously knew about the pressure in the situation because he was worshiped like a god.” At the same time, he emphasized: “For me, he was just another seriously injured person.”
According to Dainese, he did not initially realize how serious Schumacher’s injuries actually were, but only a few days later during another mission. “I transported another injured man to the hospital and what I saw there shocked me: so many buses, red flags (for Schumacher’s former team Ferrari, editor’s note) and people everywhere. The hospital had turned into a Formula 1 circus. It was unbelievable.”
Dainese now works for the French Civil Defense at the Grenoble base. To date, he has not commented further on the incident out of respect for the Schumacher family.
