:E
yea, yea.. I did read it. and answered in the first sentence :O
Then I started waffling on about other items of interest. :}

Of marginal interest ;)

I wondered if the airport might have any warning of the closure, or any aircraft are given a few hours notice to reposition elsewhere before it closed. Bit harsh on them otherwise.

I bet the local helos are doing big business this week.

I've never been a fan of the place to be honest. Too many local cowboys zooming out of the valleys and cutting in front of other aircraft on approach. Had to go around once after one of them appeared from such a valley undeneath me while I was on a long final.

Too ill disciplined there for me to feel completely comfortable.

safety strip
 

...according an anouncement by the BAZL swiss the airport was closed due to too high snow walls. The strip has to be 40m , the height of the snowwalls was too high, I would like to start a discussion about the legal requirements concerning safety strip at airfields like that, any comments?
no-rvsm - it was a private operater, easy to google if you use the call sign and/or the initial accident report of flight safety / swiss authority. cheers.

That has happened to me at a place with no mountains around at all. Ill disciplined yes, but not LSZS specific I´d say. Never happened to me in LSZS, uncomfortable close(thats LSZS specific) heli traffic yes, but always announced and in sight.

Apparently no warning was given to airport from FOCA that the airport would be closed::suspect:

http://www.engadin-airport.ch/filead...rfuegung_e.pdf

His dudeness.

The force must be strong with you then. It was bad enough for my previous employer to include a warning in the airfield brief. You could spot these guys after landing by their chinking spurs as they walked in across the apron ;)

Hmmm, never tought about that. Will give it a try next time when there is a monster jackpot in the state lottery...

Spurs - do they help in SE climb performance or what? I could use them then as well...and the sound is cool. (walking across...)


BTW: LSZS will reopen at 1400z today.

I was with WashingtonDave on the ski-bus. I do recall the conditions being very grim, and not many people even out skiing. Dave did mention to me about the plane landing, expressing his surprise that flights were still active. I know nothing about flying so whether the conditions were wholly to blame I couldn't say.

Hopefully an inquiry will determine the causes and hopefully reduce the chances of such a tragedy happening again.

Condolence thread opened
 

As suggested before, I opened a thread for all who want to send their condolences.

http://www.pprune.org/biz-jets-ag-flying-ga-etc/363108-condolences-our-collegues-families-falcon-10-vp-baf-crash-samedan.html#post4735571

It was suggested that this doesn't really belong here and I had my doubts as well, but please understand that we all have different ways to cope with such a tragedy and it sometimes just helps to put it into words.

Feel free to discuss this and the crash itself on here but please respect the condolences thread as what it is and bear in mind that families and friends might read it.

THANK YOU!!!

Big planes
 

After all, Boeing 737 have been coming into LSZS on a regular basis during the snow season.
For years, Greek tycoon Niarchos' 737 could be seen parked here.
And the Super Constellation has landed and taken off in the summer in the past three years, as well.
Peter

Many light/mid sized corporate jets have crashed at airports big enough to handle airliners. What's your point PG?

Taking a pure guess here, but maybe he referred to the statement that the runway was only cleared to a width of 8 meters?

Surely the folks at Samedan ops know it takes more than 8m to handle an aircraft even the size of a small Falcon. No idea where that number came from.

Hi Anybody know if there is an updated accident report on this? :sad:

Not yet, check later at Bro fr Flugunfalluntersuchung

The only publication so far:
http://www.bfu.admin.ch/common/pdf/VP-BAF.pdf

The final report is published:
http://www.bfu.admin.ch/common/pdf/2074_e.pdf

It is worth to read more than only the conclusions section.

Thank you for the update, much appreciated.

I found the Captains previous incident's report on page 16 interesting.

Highly illuminating report, and very unpleasant reading from start to finish.

Petergloor
 

IFixPlanes,
Very illuminating report indeed, thank you for posting it.

One of the commanders prior incidents beggars belief and points to the reasons for the fatal crash.

Interesting to speculate that the pax was sitting with his back to the right hand side of the aircraft (the sideways seat immediately behind the crew seats) and accordingly had his back to the side of the aircraft that took the impact with the snow berm. It may well have been the reason that he survived despite being so close to the point where the aircraft split.