Posted on 08/05/2018 9:21:54 AM PDT by Simon Green
A vintage plane crashed at altitude in the Swiss Alps on Saturday, in canton Graubünden. All 20 passengers lost their lives in Switzerland's worst air tragedy since 2001.
At a sombre press conference in the town of Flims on Sunday, a day after the accident, cantonal police announced that all passengers on board – 17 passengers, two pilots, and a flight attendant – lost their lives in the crash.
It's the worst accident in Swiss aviation since the crash of a Crossair plane at Bassersdorf, canton Zurich, killed 24 in 2001.
All of the passengers and crew members were Swiss, except for a couple from Austria who were also on board with their son.
The plane went down on the western side of the Piz Segnas mountain on Saturday afternoon (see map), at an altitude of 2,540 metres (8,330 feet). It was travelling between Locarno and Dübendorf when it crashed for unknown reasons.
A large-scale salvage operation, which included the deployment of five helicopters, continued on Sunday morning and the airspace around the accident site remains closed; some of the walking trails in the area popular with hikers were also closed off.
Old plane, unpressurized, record high temps in Europe thinning the air, probably no GPS...
Years ago there was a crash in the CO mountains which wiped out most of the local football team. High gross weight, an older airplane, got lost and ended up in a box canyon. Couldn't climb out, no room to turn around...
When I was in Hawaii, I did an island hop in one of those small propeller planes. It was definitely a harrowing experience and I consider myself a seasoned air traveler. We had no problems during the flight but you can definitely “feel” flying more in a small aircraft. Lot of bumps and disconcerting drops in attitude for no apparent reason. I was glad to get back on the ground.
Thanks for the link. I was wondering not long ago if Martin Caidin’s Iron Annie was still flying.
I have a rule against flying in aircraft built before I was born. I recently extended that rule to aircraft built before I graduated from high school
There are videos of restored Ford Trimotors taking off, flying around the city and landing again, in VFR conditions with no weather approaching. Treat an old aircraft gently and it will fly just fine.
Prayers for those who perished in the Tante Ju.
You can have my seat on any of them. I believe that it was a confederate Air Force plane that crashed a couple of years ago killing all on board due to structural failure/metal fatigue
I have over 6000 hours in navy four engine turboprops. If ya cant divide the number of engines by two and come up with at least an even number i don’t get on it. That includes modern airliners.
It was a wwii bomber...they don’t call it confederate Air Force like when my dad was in it
It’s Commerative Air Force....well Harlingen is now Mexican isn’t it
Maybe they should call it Zapata Flying Circus
That's pretty much my way of thinking, though I plan to take a ride on a B17 before I'm done. Old birds are safe enough so long as they're well-maintained, properly inspected, and flown within their limits, but there's always that thing called human error.....
Heck, in it’s day this thing was a death trap.
Cumulo-granite?
It was heavy, slow, underpowered, but on par with other planes of its era.
Mechanical failure ? Possible, but I'm guessing pilot error - flying low through a pass as passengers oohed and ahhed at the scenery. Hot, thin air, full load, and unturbocharged engines meant they couldn't clear the mountainside at the end of the pass (just like the CO crash I cited)
A WW-II era plane over the Alps in the Summer? That’s a no-go for me.
This is the cockpit of the airlines JU 52 planes.
It certainly does have modern instruments and what looks like a Garmin GPS on the top of the panel
Lipstick on a pig unless the airframe is up to snuff. Look at the Basler refit of DC-3 and C-47’s, they tear them all the way down and they are rebuilt entirely
Lufthansa bought it from the Caidin estate, gave a bit of TLC, and it’s still flying.
https://magazin.lufthansa.com/xx/en/fleet/junkers-ju-52-en/a-visit-with-an-old-lady/
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