Vintage plane crashes in Swiss Alps, killing all 20 people on board
The plane appears to have hit the ground near-vertically and at high speed
An old-time propeller plane crashed near vertically at high speed into a Swiss mountain, killing all 20 people on board, police said on Sunday.
The Junkers Ju-52 plane, operated by the Swiss company Ju-Air, went down Saturday on the Piz Segnas mountain above the Swiss Alpine resort of Flims, striking the mountain’s western flank about 2,540 metres above sea level. The mountainous area in southeastern Switzerland is popular with hikers and skiers and includes a glacier.
Police said on Sunday they have now determined that all 20 people on board the plane, including its three crew members, died.
Eleven men and nine women were killed. Most of the victims were Swiss but they also included a couple and their son from Austria. The victims were aged between 42 and 84.
Police said they are not aware of any distress call from the aircraft before it crashed.
Daniel Knecht of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board said the plane appears to have hit the ground near-vertically and at high speed.
Speaking on Sunday at a news conference in Flims, he said the vintage plane presumably didn’t have the crash-resistant cockpit voice and data recorders that more modern aircraft have.