Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Monday 6 august 2018

Vintage plane crashes in Swiss Alps, killing 20 on board

By GEIR MOULSON ing World War II, lacked a product of Germany’s
BERLIN (AP) — Determin- “black boxes,” the crash- Junkers, were manufac-
ing why a vintage plane resistant cockpit voice and tured between 1932 and
crashed in the Swiss Alps data recorders that more 1952.
will be challenging since modern aircraft have. Ju-Air started operating
the 79-year-old aircraft did Officials expect the investi- flights with the vintage
not have black boxes and gation of the cause to be prop planes in 1983, and
was traveling in an area “relatively complex, be- the plane that crashed —
without frequent radar cause we have to com- with the registration HB-HOT
readings when it plunged pare various indications, — had been in service with
into a mountain, killing all information and evidence the company since 1985.
20 of the people on board, and evaluate them,” The company offers “ad-
investigators said Sunday. Knecht said. venture flights” for people
The Junkers Ju-52 plane, There also are typically few wanting to experience
operated by Swiss compa- radar recordings in moun- Switzerland’s landscape
ny Ju-Air, moved at a near- This photo shows the wreckage of the old-time propeller plane tainous areas such as the from vintage planes. A bro-
vertical angle before it hit Ju 52 after it went down went down Saturday Aug, 4 2018 on the one where the crash site is chure on its website listed
the Piz Segnas mountain Piz Segnas mountain above the Swiss Alpine. located, he added. the cost of the 2-day Lo-
while carrying 17 passen- Associated Press Officials can essentially rule carno trip as 1,130 francs
gers and three crew mem- out a collision with anoth- ($1,136), including meals
bers, police and the head seven couples from various The fully booked propel- er aircraft or an obstacle and a night in a hotel.
of the country’s transporta- parts of Switzerland, a cou- ler plane, built in 1939 and such as a wire, Knecht said. Ju-Air chief executive and
tion safety agency said. ple from neighboring Aus- retired by Switzerland’s air There also was no indica- co-founder Kurt Waldmeier
The victims were 11 men tria and their son, and the force in 1981, was flying the tion of any “external influ- said the planes “are flown
and nine women between three crew members. Their passengers back to its base ence,” he said, indicating exclusively by very experi-
the ages of 42 and 84— names were not released. at Duebendorf, near Zur- that authorities don’t sus- enced professional pilots,
ich, from a two-day trip to pect foul play. and strictly checked and
the Italian-speaking Ticino The plane did not catch maintained by our own
region. It crashed shortly on fire before or after it hit technicians.”
before 5 p.m. Saturday, less the mountain, and investi- The one that crashed had
than 50 minutes after tak- gators have not found any logged 10,187 hours of fly-
ing off from Locarno’s Ma- signs the aircraft lost parts ing time, he said, adding
gadino airfield. or broke up in the air be- that it underwent mainte-
The plane had two pilots. fore the crash, Knecht said. nance after every 35 hours
Police said they have not The area around the crash of flight — most recently at
found any evidence a dis- site, which is popular with the end of July. He said it
tress call was made before hikers and skiers and in- had its full annual service
it crashed. cludes a glacier, was closed during the winter, and “we
Photos released by to the public. Knecht said know of no technical prob-
Graubuenden canton authorities would probably lems with this aircraft.”
(state) police showed the need “a few days” to com- The pilots, who were 62 and
crumpled wreckage of the plete recovery work. 63-years-old, both had ex-
plane lying on the moun- Officials appeared dubious tensive experience with the
tain located above the Al- about suggestions that un- Ju-52 and had long worked
pine resort of Flims. Only its usually hot weather in Swit- as airline and Swiss air force
upside-down tail appeared zerland, like other parts of pilots, Waldmeier said.
more or less intact. Europe, might have been The aircraft have three en-
“We can assume that the a main cause of the crash. gines, one on the nose and
aircraft hit the ground near- Knecht said that while heat one on each wing. Wald-
vertically and at relatively can affect an aircraft’s meier said the pilots fly by
high speed,” Daniel Knecht performance, experienced sight along pre-planned
of the Swiss Transportation pilots could deal with that. routes.
Safety Investigation Board Knecht also dismissed the “We cannot yet explain
said Sunday at a news con- idea that the plane’s age what led to the tragic ac-
ference in Flims. was necessarily a problem. cident on Piz Segnas,” he
He and senior police offi- “Older planes, if they are said.
cial Andreas Tobler said the correctly maintained, can The company, which oper-
Ju-52, an early passenger be operated safely,” he ates two other Ju-52s, sus-
plane that was enlisted for said. pended flights until further
military transport duty dur- Nearly 5,000 Ju-52 planes, notice after the crash.q