Junkers Ju-52/3m HB-HOT lost with casualties

[Okami]

According to Swiss media, JU-Air has announced that they will resume flights from August 17th onwards.

Meanwhile, one of the (reportedly 20+) eyewitnesses has come forward and has been interviewed by the press. A former military pilot, he witnessed the entire crash sequence. According to his statement, the aircraft was flying normal, until it suddenly made a left-hand turn, dropped its left wing and departed controlled flight. In his interview, he expressed his suspicion that the pilots encountered an engine failure and subsequently lost control.

http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/news/story/ ... --25222461

[airboatr]

Was hoping to hear from Toby by now

[FlyTexas]

Was hoping to hear from Toby by now

He was the first person I thought of when I read about this accident.

Brian

[TobyV]

Hi all, still here. Very sad occurrence. I have flown on one before from Dübendorf in 2012 and I was surprised just how close to the mountains they flew. You can see in my video on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4hGnRYz4Yw

Without a CVR or FDR there's only the wreckage, the weather, the maintenance records, the route, eye witness statements and possible photographic or video evidence to go on. (There's some hope that someone on board might have been recording too, which they might find). It seems the aircraft was trying to fly past the "Martinsloch" feature, which is a hole in the rock near the peak of Piz Segnas at about 8,500ft ASL. The weather on the day, as has been the case here for several weeks now was very hot, probably around 35C at ground level. An eye witness reported seeing the aircraft make a 180deg turn shortly before it crashed and the whole thing seemed to occur in a matter of perhaps 15 seconds. One possibility is losing speed in the turn resulting in a stall or spin condition. The Swiss authorities haev already discounted any possible collision with any other aircraft or structure - there had been reports of a NOTAM regarding a cable that had been erected in the mountains nearby, but that seems to have played no part in the accident.

[Tomliner]

Supeb video Toby. As you imply the proximity to the mountains is dramatic. Tragic loss of life and yet another classic gone. I’m sure we’re all pleased that you were not on board. EricT

[Nigel H-J]

Great video Toby, did anyone see the climber on approaching the summit?

Re-ran the video nearing that shot and did not see anyone else with him/her.

Click for larger view.



Regards
Nigel.

[TobyV]

You're eagle-eyed, I don't think I'd spotted that before!

The 20 victims and the wreckage have now been recovered and the airspace around Piz Segna has been reopened. Ju-Air intend to restart flights with the remaining two aircraft in 9 days but this seems to be causing some controversy here. The Swiss civil aircraft authority BAZL has no grounds to prevent them, so long as there is no evidence of a technical defect being the cause of this crash.

[Nigel H-J]

You're eagle-eyed, I don't think I'd spotted that before!

I used to be a C.C.T.V. Operator covering the City Centre and outlaying districts and you learnt very quickly to spot anything unusual even though it may occur in a matter of seconds!

Ju-Air intend to restart flights with the remaining two aircraft in 9 days but this seems to be causing some controversy here.

In my opinion that is far too soon, at most they should wait until the experts have at least come up with an explanation of what caused the crash.

I know that airliners still operate after an incident where they lose an aircraft but that is different as they are running commercial routes day in and day out. With this company they are operating joy flights with old aircraft and am sure that many who would like to fly on them would not do so until they have learnt of the reasons for the crash be it mechanical, pilot error or weather related.

In my opinion I think that the company should not go ahead with any flights with that type of aircraft for at least a month as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives. I appreciate that they have to bring in revenue to keep the company going as well as the aircraft but these aircraft are not run on commercial routes whereby they have to fly everyday and as I wrote earlier, they should at least wait until the crash investigators have a better understanding as to the reason for the loss of lives.

Regards
Nigel.

[Vancouver]

I'm inclined to agree, too soon. Plus as a member of the public I think I would be wary about getting on one of their aircraft until after they get a clean bill of health regarding maintenance issues etc.

[TobyV]

On the Ju Air website, it now names the three crew members who died in this accident. I checked my photos from my flight in 2012 and I am fairly certain one of them was the captain on my flight . RIP