Originally Posted by
clearedtocross
There is no need for engine trouble to cause such an accident. This aircraft flew at or above its service ceiling: fully loaded, ISA +17 Celsius. Crash site is at approx. 8500 ft plus the 500 ft you should clear any surface plus nearly +3000 ft density altitude for temperature above ISA adds up to about 12'000 ft density altitude. The BMW radials fitted have much less power than the former Luftwaffe engines (500+ instead of 800+ HP) and are normaly aspirated. Which means that the aircraft was cruising at max. power (which is maybe half of its sea level power) and somewhere near 1.3 times above its rather low stall speed. Now add a 360 for sightseeing and a little bit of turbulence and it may have simply stopped flying even with all motors running perfectly. What adds to this tragedy is that this is the 3rd fatal accident in Switzerland within a few days where high density altitude was probably a contributing factor. 28 persons dead who were all looking forward to beautiful adventure. Sad indeed. The JU-52, after passing the highest obstruction on its flight path, the Lukmanier-Pass which can be overflown safely at 8000 ft, could have reached its destination following down the Rhine valley with no further obstacles to its destination in Duebendorf (LSMD). So it is not inherently dangerous to fly old hardware, but tactics require to honour their lower limits.
Most sentient observation on this topic yet. Salut.