Twenty dead as vintage plane crashes in Swiss Alps

Twenty people have died after a vintage passenger aircraft crashed into a mountainside in eastern Switzerland.

The plane – a Junkers Ju-52 – was carrying 17 passengers and three crew on a sightseeing flight when it took off on Saturday afternoon.

Operator Ju-air said it was saddened by the news and it had set up a helpline for relatives. It has suspended all flights until further notice. The cause of the crash is not known.

Daniel Knecht of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board, said: “Based on the situation at the crash site we can say the aircraft smashed into ground almost vertically at relatively high speed.

“We can rule out that there had been a collision before the crash, neither with another aircraft nor with some other obstacle.”