All occupants of the historic aircraft were killed in the JU-Air JU-52 accident on Saturday, August 4. The machine was 79 years old and was last serviced at the end of July. Both pilots were extremely experienced. JU-Air remembers accident victims and their families and friends.
“August 4, 2018 is the black day in the history of JU-Air,” said founder and CEO of JU-Air, Kurt Waldmeier, to the media in Flims (GR) on Sunday. “We are deeply saddened by the accident and think of the 17 passengers, our three crew members and the families and friends of the victims. We extend our heartfelt condolences to them. We've all suffered a very big loss.”
About JU-Air and JU-52
The Friends of the Swiss Air Force Association has been operating flights with JU-Air since 1983 with three historic JU-52s. The JU-52 is a three-engine aircraft, which was built from the thirties to the fifties by the Junkers plants in Germany.
The Swiss Air Force operated the JU-52 until 1981. After its phase-out, the Association of Friends of the Swiss Air Force decided to take over three aircraft and operate flights with them. JU-Air aircraft are flown exclusively by highly experienced professional pilots and are strictly checked and maintained by our own technicians.
JU-Air has not had any accidents involving injuries since 1983.
About the JU-52 “HB-HOT”
The machine in the accident was built in 1939, i.e. 79 years ago. It had been in service with JU-Air since 1985 and flew a total of 10,187 hours until yesterday. The JU-52 is strictly technically controlled, not least because of its old age. It must be serviced every 35 flight hours. It had its last regular maintenance at the end of July. The last annual overhaul took place last winter. We are not aware of any technical issues with this aircraft.
About the crew
The two pilots are former airline pilots and Swiss Air Force pilots. Saturday's flight was operated by two flight captains.
One captain was 62 years old and an airline pilot for 31 years. He flew for Swissair and Swiss for more than 30 years, most recently as captain on Airbus A330 and A340. He flew with the Air Force as a military pilot for a total of 28 years. Since 2004, he has regularly flown JU-52 from JU-Air. He had already had 943 flight hours on the pattern and was therefore one of the experienced pilots in our team. He leaves behind his long-time partner.
The second captain was 63 years old, with JU-Air since 2013 and had 297 hours on the JU-52. Before that, he was also a military pilot with the Air Force for more than 30 years and an airline pilot with Swissair, Swiss and Edelweiss, most recently as captain on Airbus A330 and A340. He leaves behind his wife and two sons.
Our flight attendant was 66 years old and had more than 40 years of experience as a flight attendant. She joined JU-Air in 2002. She leaves behind her partner.
About the flight
The crashed plane flew from Dübendorf to Locarno on Friday, August 3. There are no known special incidents. On Saturday, August 4, at 4:10 p.m., the plane took off from Locarno for the return flight to Dübendorf. On board were 14 passengers from Switzerland and three from Austria, as well as the three-person Swiss crew.
The JU-52 pilots fly by sight. This means that they navigate according to maps and comply with prescribed minimum flight altitudes and distances from clouds. The route of each flight is planned in advance by the pilots. Weather, winds, temperatures and the weight of the machine play a role here.
When conditions require it, the flight path is adjusted, for example to avoid clouds. It is unclear how the tragic accident happened at Piz Segnas. JU-Air is doing everything it can to assist the investigative authorities. No one is as interested as JU-Air in clarifying the causes so that such an accident can never happen again.
Contact JU-Air
Christian Gartmann, Communications Officer
+41 79 355 78 78
christian@gartmann.biz
Christian Gartmann has been supporting JU-Air in crisis management and crisis communication since the day of the accident. Comprehensive and transparent information for the public and communication with the families of the victims are at the heart of the efforts. Christian Gartmann acts as media spokesperson for the airline and actively supports media professionals in their individual editorial work.
He supports company management in communication with relatives of accident victims, for example when implementing memorial events.