Accident
On Saturday, 28 June 1975, at 0826 hours local time, the pilot of a Piper PA-32-300, registration HB-OMG, departed Bern Airport with six passengers on a private VFR flight to Venice. At 0934 hours, the aircraft collided with the east wall of the Lauteraarhorn in the canton of Bern, at an altitude of approximately 3700 m. All seven occupants were killed upon impact and the aircraft was destroyed. No third-party damage occurred.
Search and Recovery
The aircraft was missing for more than six years. Search and rescue operations by the Swiss Federal Air Office were unsuccessful. On 15 July 1981, the wreckage was discovered by a mountaineer at the east wall of the Lauteraarhorn. The compact wreck was impaled on a rock spur in a steep snow couloir at about 3700 m. Since the aircraft and occupants were frozen and could not be recovered otherwise, HB-OMG was brought down to a glacier using explosive charges, from where it was retrieved by helicopter.
Aircraft and Pilot Information
The aircraft was a 1969 Piper PA-32-300 Cherokee Six, a single-engine low-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear, serial number 32-40607, owned by Gribair-Aviation Market S.A. It had accumulated 860 total flight hours at the time of the accident. The last state inspection was on 27 February 1975. The engine was a Lycoming IO-540-K1A5 of 300 hp. The aircraft was not equipped with an oxygen system, nor was it required. The maximum takeoff weight was 3400 lbs; the accident weight was estimated to be near that limit, with the center of gravity within limits. Fuel on board was about 84 US gallons, with an estimated reserve of about 61 US gallons at the time of the accident.
The pilot, a Swiss citizen born in 1951, held a private pilot license issued on 30 June 1972, valid until 30 October 1976. He was rated for single-engine aircraft up to 2500 kg with piston engine, flaps, variable-pitch propeller, and retractable landing gear. His total flight experience at the last license renewal on 9 November 1974 was 132 hours; his flight logbook was not recovered. He began flight training in 1971. The last medical examination on 31 October 1974 found him fit without restrictions.
Weather
According to the Swiss Meteorological Institute, the general weather situation was a flat pressure distribution. At the accident site and time: clouds 7-8/8 stratus, base around 2000 m, top estimated 4000-4500 m; visibility outside clouds more than 10 km; wind west-northwest around 30 knots; temperature -01°C; icing danger. At 0700 hours, the Jungfraujoch station reported fog with visibility less than 50 m, wind 310/32 knots. A meteorologist from Zurich Airport recalled that the pilot called for a weather briefing and was informed of current reports and that the GAFOR forecast was not particularly good.
Findings
The flight path after departure is unknown. The aircraft impacted the east wall of the Lauteraarhorn in a left turn. The wreckage coordinates were 653 200/159 300 at about 3700 m. The aircraft was destroyed. All seven occupants sustained fatal injuries.