Swiss civil aviation regulator calls time on vintage aircraft commercial passenger flights - Ju-52

Photo Ju-Air

The Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation has called a halt to normal commercial pleasure flights on the fleet of Junkers Ju-52 aircraft by Ju-Air, it has confirmed this week.

The regulator says that be following the fatal crash of a Ju-52 of Ju-Air it had reviewed the facts of the investigation (which is ongoing) and because there is no manufacturer with responsibility for the airworthiness of the Ju 52 aircraft, the regulator was “not in a position to take on this task”. it was calling a halt to all commercial passenger flights with type.

However, this does not mean that the Ju-52's won't be in the air again with passengers, the regulator says the historic aircraft can still fly - even with passengers,  however, these passengers would need to be members of a dedicated club, and have been members for at least 30 days prior to the flight.

JU-Air to resume flying on 17th August

Photo JU-Air

The operators of the Junkers JU-52 that crashed on Saturday plans to resume flying on 17th August, unless they are ordered not to.

JU-Air spokesperson Christian Gartmann said “We plan to resume flights on August 17 unless we receive any indications until then that safety might be a concern. At the moment we don’t have any indication that it would be unsafe to resume flight.”

The 1939 aircraft came down on Saturday during a pleasure sightseeing flight, in which all onboard were killed. The cause of the crash is still unknown at this stage, however, an investigation is ongoing.

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Historic Junkers JU-52 crashes in Switzerland killing all onboard

A World War Two vintage aircraft has crashed in Switzerland killing twenty people according to the local police.

The aircraft was a Junkers JU-52, registration HB-HOT, of JU-Air and was carrying 17 passengers and 3 crew members on a special sightseeing pleasure flight when it crashed on Saturday afternoon. JU-Air said it was deeply saddened by the news of the crash and thinks of the passengers, the crew and families and friends of the victims at this time. The local police have set up a special helpline for relatives of those on the flight. JU-Air confirmed that it had suspended all its other flights until further notice.

During a press briefing on Sunday, the police advised that the aircraft came down on a mountainside about 2,540m (8,333 ft) above sea level. Passengers enjoying the special sightseeing pleasure flight in the historic aircraft were aged between 42 and 84 years old and that relatives or next of kin for all but one of the victims had been contacted.