This incident resurrects the eternal argument about old warbirds. Fly 'em and risk crashing 'em, or let 'em sit on the ground and rot. Personally I think it's better to die in an enormous fireball than to fade away.
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.
Yes, that was in the link posted by Snickering Hound. I read Caidin’s book The Saga of Iron Annie many years ago, so I was glad to learn that the old plane still lives.
> “Mechanical failure ? Possible, but I’m guessing pilot error - flying low through a pass as passengers oohed and ahhed at the scenery.”
I remember a cartoon with two pilots looking at a couple of mountain goats ahead. One pilot said “How did those goats get up into this cloud?”
Used by Luftwaffe in WWII.
“Harlingen is now Mexican isn’t it”
Harligen hasn’t been their headquarters for quite some time.I’m not sure where it is now, seems like it’s somewhere in N Texas
Haven’t seen the Basler rebuilds but have read that DC3’s are being retrofitted with turbo props lately
Thats what Basler does, they rebuild the entire plan and have all the jigs and plans to fab replacement parts. From what I have seen the plane is essentially certified as new, and with the turbo props she can take off faster and carry more. They also do custom interiors and mods, really great when the bird rolls off the line and all FAA certified for everything they do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAHcAbxuu00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK3hP_l8IxU
Time lapse video of rebuild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L_9paUnWpY
It was a piece of junk. It was very difficult to load and unload cargo through is door and it’s corrugated skin created drag, reducing air speed.
> “This incident resurrects the eternal argument about old warbirds. Fly ‘em and risk crashing ‘em, or let ‘em sit on the ground and rot. Personally I think it’s better to die in an enormous fireball than to fade away.”
Having been to Oshkosh more than a dozen times, I tend to agree. Still, it is a shame.
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