A TB10, HB-EZW, based at Kaegiswil (LSPG) has crashed into a forrest near Hergiswil in Switzerland. From what the media report, all on board perished.
According to reports the airplane was fully occupied and departed Kaegiswil in direction Alpnach and Hergiswil. After crossing a ridge (Renggpass) which is a reporting point for both Alpnach and Kaegiswil, the airplane descended into steep terrain and crashed. There was a post impact fire which had to be put out by helicopters.
Switzerland has been plagued by high temperatures. Alpnach Autometar reported temperatures of 25-26 degrees at the time of the accident.
LSMA 040820Z AUTO 04003KT 340V080 9999NDV NCD 26/19 Q1019 RMK
LSMA 040750Z AUTO VRB02KT 9999NDV NCD 25/19 Q1019 RMK
Sad :( Unfortunately, a second one crashed here today:
Articles in German:
http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/zentralschweiz/story/Flugzeug-stuerzt-am-Lopper-NW-ab-12041924
http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/ostschweiz/story/Flugzeug-stuerzt-am-Piz-Segnas-ab-27027811
I also wonder if it could be underestimation of the performance loss with temperatures of 32+ degrees C in the valleys and the effect when flying in the Alps. Although Swiss pilots are usually trained (at least in theory) about the effects.
Vladimir, lets keep those two accidents separate. I’ve opened a thread for the JU.
A post on social media has it that the Pilatus Chief Pilot and his family were on board… ?
Archie wrote:
A post on social media has it that the Pilatus Chief Pilot and his family were on board… ?
The whole family perished in that disaster…..
Very sad day for Swiss aviation….
The Pilatus Chief pilot. In the TB 10 accident? How current was he in underpowered planes? Hi density altitude = crap performance, sometimes to a degree that is hard to believe. You also have to manage mixture carefully. It’s easy to fly over rich & lose power. BTDT. MTOW makes the situaion worse. I know. I fly an underpowered plane.
Horrible news. Both accidents make you think.
WhiskeyPapa wrote:
The Pilatus Chief pilot. In the TB 10 accident? How current was he in underpowered planes?
Very. He flew it a lot. And he was based very close to there, so he knew the area very well indeed.
I’ve moved the mixed up posts to the right threads hopefully, with some syntax edits.
Really bad news. The TB10 is a perfectly good plane but with 4 people and in hot air one needs to do the w&b extra carefully; it isn’t exactly overpowered. OTOH he was at flying speed when this happened so this isn’t the usual sort of overweight departure accident. Very strange.
Could 10 or 20 kg above MTOW create a critical situation leading to such sad end?