NEWS IN BRIEF

JU-AIR TRAGEDY

Ju-Air lost Junkers Ju 52/3m HB-HOT when the former Swiss Air Force transport crashed in the Glarus Alps on 4 August, killing all 20 occupants. The aircraft was en route from Locarno to its base at Dübendorf. Ju-Air resumed operations on 17 August with its other three tri-motors, flying under stricter conditions which require passengers to remain strapped in for the duration of pleasure flights.

MIDAIR CANBERRA TO INDIA?

The ex-Midair Squadron English Electric Canberra PR9 XH134/ G-OMHD has been offered to the Indian Air Force Vintage Flight by Cotswold Airport CEO Susannah Harvey. The aircraft has been grounded there since its former operator went under prior to the 2015 display season.

Il-2 RECOVERED

Seventy-five years after ditching into a lake near Murmansk, a single-seat Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik was recovered by a team from the Moscow-based Wings of Victory organisation in early August. It will now be restored to fly by Aviarestoration at Novisibirsk.

RAPIDE ACCIDENT AT ABBOTSFORD

The Historic Flight Foundation’s DH89A Dragon Rapide N683DH crashed at Abbotsford, British Columbia, on 11 August, while taking off after the second day of the Abbotsford Airshow. Its pilot, HFF founder John Sessions, was critically injured and had to have his lower left leg amputated, but was released from hospital a few days later and plans to fly again with a prosthetic limb. The four passengers, one of whom suffered serious injuries, all survived. BEN DUNNELL

SIR ADRIAN SWIRE 1932-2018

On 24 August, businessman Sir Adrian Swire — best-known in the historic aviation world as the former owner of Spitfire IX MH434 — passed away peacefully at the age of 86. For many years a board member of Cathay Pacific Airways, partially owned by the family firm Swire Pacific, Sir Adrian acquired MH434 in 1968 and kept it until 1983, when it was sold to the Old Flying Machine Company. He also owned Dragon Rapide G-AKIF. BEN DUNNELL