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Not a machine defect, not a cause of the weather: the Ju-52 crash two years ago in the Graubünden Alps was due to human error. This is demonstrated by an unpublished investigative report from the Swiss Security Investigation Board (Sust), which is available for the “SonntagsZeitung”. Consequently, pilots with “high-risk flight maneuvers” did not adhere to the prescribed minimum altitude.
The report does not leave a good hair for the two Thurgau captains of Ju-Air, aged 61 and 62, who flew 28 times together in the two months prior to the accident and repeatedly failed to meet the prescribed minimum altitude. The report concludes that the two pilots, who lived less than ten kilometers apart, were apparently considered “invulnerable”.
Spectacular route is fatal
On that fateful afternoon of August 4, 2018, on the road from Locarno back to Dübendorf, “Aunt Ju” fell too low. The pilots would have chosen the spectacular Grisons route. At Piz Segnas they flew too close to the edge of the mountain and no longer had enough room to maneuver if, for example, a strong downdraft developed under the mountain ridge due to turbulence.
With the entry too deep into the valley basin, according to the report, “it was no longer possible to fly a reverse curve.” There was no way out for the pilots. The plane crashed vertically.
Ju-Air enjoyed the freedom of fools with the federal government
The lack of supervision by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (Bazl) is also analyzed. The report attests that the captain, who was driving the aircraft on the day of the accident, had a “reduced awareness of the risk” and a “lack of self-criticism”. That was already evident during the annual check flights. It is said that the pilot fell below the prescribed minimum height over and over again, to no consequence for Bazl’s examiner, who was also on the plane.
According to this, a pilot had made verifiable serious errors several times and was still able to continue flying. But it is not that a pilot is the main culprit of the accident. Further investigation would show that the three older Dübendorfer Ju-Air planes had flown too low on at least eight flights.
In the spring of 2016, a three-man formation thundered at a height of almost 100 meters above Rümlang ZH. 300 meters would be allowed. The Bazl rejected a criminal complaint from an attorney who, according to his own statement, felt reminded him of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Experienced flight expert Martin Stucki, CEO of Linth-Air-Service, says other companies in aviation are closely monitored and also fined by Bazl. “The Ju-Air had a fool’s freedom.” The accident in Piz Segnas with the many deaths was avoidable.
Sust’s official accident report should be published by the end of October at the earliest. The department responsible for the environment, transport, energy and communications (Uvek) has already ordered an external investigation by a Dutch authority. (kes)
