https://www.roundshot.com/xml_1/internet/en/application/d170/f172.cfm
an interesting 360 ° webcam site.
Many references in Switzerland, always more … (less elsewhere)
I bought a FR24 gold subscription just to see jgmusic historical flights.
His own aircraft G-BVDH did not do any mountain flying the last 12 months (FR24 shows max 12 months).
He was asking about GAFOR routes in June 2018:
Having finally experienced the exhilaration of mountain flying (well, flying high enough to stay VFR and out of trouble whilst not needing oxygen) I’m intrigued by the GAFOR routes which look both exciting and daunting.
It makes me believe that this was his first “real GAFOR” mountain flight.
Me – with little mountain flying experience – did fly the exact same route. The writeup is here on EuroGA and he had probably read it…
I can assure you that (being from the flat lands) I was out of my comfort zone flying through the mountains.
With wife and small baby on board the stress level must have been high.
It could very well be that the pilot was so overwhelmed that he simply forgot to climb before entering the Simplon valley.
That or a fatal mistake where he misinterpreted the reference altitude in Skydemon.
Very sad accident :-(
I recommend anyone to get some lessons on Mountain flying, even if you are unlikely to use it much: It’s a lot of fun! You can either do valley only, or do altiport (most likely in summer when it is not snowed in).
For valley flying, you can for sure do in your own plane (I can give you the contact of a nice instructor / mountain examiner, very nice international lawyer (= speaks good english)), so organising doesn’t have to be a burden.
lenthamen wrote:
or a fatal mistake where he misinterpreted the reference altitude in Skydemon.
In the EuroGA discussion you referred to he clearly did believe that the reference altitude was the minimum crossing altitude. Of course, I don’t know if the discussion made him realise that was wrong.
It could very well be that the pilot was so overwhelmed that he simply forgot to climb before entering the Simplon valley.
Exactly. In my opinion, that‘s the kind of stuff most light GA accident causes are made of! Usually no need to look much further. Simple pilot errors.
either forgot to climb or misjudged his rate of climb with what was necessary. In a Piper, pich up, it’s also not easy to see a lot in front of you.
Gigicret wrote:
The most important thing is to never engage in a pass, on climbing !
Reach the necessary altitude and then commit yourself!
Thus, you will have enough speed to be able to turn back safely and enough altitude to pass. In addition visibility will be better
I think, as someone already has pointed out, that we are discussing different things. What is the safest method to cross mountains (without having to care about what is going on down there), and how to fly when you are down there and have to care about what is going on.
Usually in accidents like this one, visibility and weather play a large part. People get forced or simply head straight into situations they cannot get out of. This one is different, and very strange.
@LeSving: the safest method is to fly above the terrain, 2000ft or more. That said, flying one of the valley (GAFOR) routes also works well, but requires a bit more planning. A look at the chart and a topo map before setting out tells you pretty much all you need to know. Obviously you need a good wx briefing. In the Alps there are also numerous wx stations in the mountains, pretty much every cable car station and major pass reports wx. For the Simplon Pass it is here: http://www.meteocentrale.ch/en/europe/switzerland/weather-simplonpass/details/S069376/ Not too hard to check out.
It could very well be that the pilot was so overwhelmed that he simply forgot to climb before entering the Simplon valley.
To be honest, I could have made the same mistake. Flying for the first time in the mountains for me was truly overwhelming in all possible ways. Luckily, I did it right before I started flight training and did further mountain flying during and after PPL-training, including landings on glaciers (which was even more exciting and educational). I did not only learn the basics of (technical) mountain flying, but also to control my emotions, despite the very intimidating landscapes. I wouldn’t imagine what happened on my first solo mountain flight without those experiences in advance… Probably getting overwhelmed, mixed with fear and totally out of comfort zone.
You can prepare yourself so hard on every single detail, but getting a blackout due to overwhelming is still human. If you’re not used to control it, you can forget the most simple safety rules, which results in (serious) errors. It’s like a drug… (so far as I experienced it, every human is different)
I still think there is a lot of confusion among pilots on what “GAFOR weather/routes” actually means?
I now personally think it is just a random weather forecast that is attached to a random valley route and cannot be relies on for “serious planning” 
, the usual defense for pilots vs terrain (e.g. IFR+MSA, VMC on top of clouds, max aircraft performance…) still applies and far more reliable even when weather is clear sky….
