JU52, en-route, west of Chur Switzerland, 2018

JU52, en-route, west of Chur Switzerland, 2018

Summary

On 4 August 2018, a Junkers Ju-52 making a low level sightseeing flight through the Swiss Alps crashed killing all 20 occupants after control was lost when it stalled after encountering unexceptional windshear. The Investigation found that the pilots had created the conditions which led to the stall and then been unable to recover from it and concluded that the accident was a direct consequence of their risky behaviour. It found that such behaviour was common at the operator, that the operator was being managed without any regard to operational risk and that safety regulatory oversight had been systemically deficient.

Description

On 4 August 2018, a 79 year-old Junkers Ju-52 (HB-HOT) being operated by Ju-Air on a non-scheduled VFR commercial passenger flight from Locarno to Dübendorf was taking a sightseeing route in day VMC and was below the highest terrain in its vicinity as it approached the intended exit route from a basin when a loss of control from which recovery was not achieved occurred and the aircraft was destroyed on impact with terrain at 8120 feet amsl, killing all 20 occupants. There was no post crash fire.

Investigation

An extremely comprehensive Investigation into the Accident was carried out by Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB). In the absence of any flight recorders installed in the accident aircraft, establishing the aircraft flight path relied on the assembly and integrated use of eyewitness reports, photographic and video footage shot by both observers on ground and passengers within the aircraft.

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