Ski drone incident to be investigated

Skiing's ruling body on Wednesday pledged a thorough investigation into an incident with a drone which crashed right behind Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher during a slalom World Cup race.

The camera drone fell heavily onto the piste as Hirscher was skiing early in the second run of the race.

He ended up finishing in second place.

"While FIS and its partners aim to use new technology to enhance the fan experience, an accident such as the drone crash cannot happen again," the FIS said in a statement.

Hirscher, the four-times reigning World Cup champion, said he felt that something had happened but did not know until after finishing that he had had a lucky escape.

"You don't want to imagine what could have happened. This is absolutely outrageous, something like this must simply not happen," Hirscher said.

The FIS also quoted broadcast partners Infront as saying: "Infront apologises to Marcel Hirscher and to FIS for the unfortunate incident with the drone.

"Detailed technical analyses will be conducted and more information will be given as soon as possible."