BERLIN (AP) – Swiss investigators said on Thursday that the “high-risk flight” by pilots of a vintage propeller plane led to a 2018 crash in the Alps, which killed all 20 people on board.
The 79-year-old Junkers Ju-52, operated by the local airline Ju-Air, crashed in southeastern Switzerland on August 4, 2018.
The plane, which was carrying 17 passengers and three crew members, crashed almost vertically into a mountain. It flew back from Locarno, in southern Switzerland, to its base near Zurich.
The Swiss Committee for the Investigation of Transport Safety stated in its final report that “the high-risk flight of pilots was a direct cause of the accident”.
When they entered a narrow mountain valley, “the flight crew flew the aircraft at low altitude, without the possibility of an alternative flight path and at an air speed dangerous for the circumstances,” investigators said.
As the plane hit turbulence in the valley, “the high-risk manner of flying through these unusual turbulences caused the pilots to lose control of the aircraft,” they added. The plane was flying too low to have enough room for recovery.
The report also found that the center of gravity of the aircraft was too far back during the convicted flight, a “dangerous situation (which) was caused by inadequate flight preparation and errors in Ju-Air software”.
He said pilots “have become accustomed to … not following the rules for safe flight operations and taking high risks even with passengers on board” and that Ju-Air did not recognize the risks or could not. prevent him from breaking the rules. .
The report blamed the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation for not identifying “numerous safety issues” with Ju-Air or for being ineffective in dealing with them.
The office in March 2019 revoked the Ju-Air commercial flight license after analyzing the risks of passenger flights with vintage aircraft, but said that it could, if it meets different conditions, continue private flights for registered members.
Ju-Air said in a statement on Thursday that “it will do everything to learn from the accident”.
He said he was “glad that the direct causes of the accident could be clearly shown” and discussed the issue of a problem with the center of gravity. Assessments suggest the problem first appeared 35 years before the crash, but did not cause problems during the intervention and was not noticed by Ju-Air or regulators, the company said.
He added that issues that have led to risky behavior of undiscovered pilots will be addressed in future pilot selection, training and supervision.