![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: World: Europe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
Monday, 26 November, 2001, 18:00 GMT
Pilots criticise Zurich crash runway
![]() The plane crashed in woodland
Swiss investigators are reported not to suspect foul play as the cause of Saturday's plane crash outside Zurich, which killed 24 people.
Crossair Flight LX3597, which had taken off from Berlin, came down in snow-covered woods on its approach to Zurich airport.
Both flight recorders from the plane, a Avro RJ-100, have been recovered from the scene, three kilometres (two miles) from the airport. One focus for the investigation is why the pilot, who was among the dead, was apparently flying too low. Other attention is being focused on the runway, number 28, which has reportedly been unpopular with pilots since it came into use for many night flights four weeks ago.
"Landing there at night in bad weather is as demanding as driving a car with only a handbrake." The approach has to be used after 2100GMT for flights from the west, to reduce noise disturbance. But the runway does not have the same high-tech systems as the airport's two other runways, including key equipment on altitude.
Some pilots said reducing noise had taken priority over safety. "I think we must take a stand and say 'No!' whenever these criminal, noise abatement death traps are issued," wrote one contributor. The runway was closed on Sunday while the investigators continue with their work.
The dead passengers included US pop star Melanie Thornton, and two senior Israeli doctors, Professor Yaacov Matzner and Professor Amiram Eldor. Most of those on board were Swiss and German, but Dutch, Austrian, Canadian, Ghanaian, Spanish and Swedish passengers were also being carried.
And Switzerland itself has been hit by a series of tragedies over recent months. The first came in September, when 13 members of a local parliament in Zug died in a gun massacre. In October, a crash and fire in the Gotthard tunnel claimed 11 lives and cut off a key Alpine transport link. The collapse of Swissair - then Crossair's owner - in early October was also a serious blow to national pride. "Will it never end?" Swiss President Moritz Leuenberger asked at a news conference about the crash. Survivors Two survivors of the Zurich crash were said to be in critical condition. "It was like in a horror film, a nightmare," said one of the injured, Myriam Wettstein. The RJ-100 is a four-engine jet built by BAE Systems Plc, formerly British Aerospace. Crossair spokesman Patrick Jeandrain said all the company's other 19 Jumbolino aircraft would be tested before resuming flights.
|
![]() |
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Europe stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Europe stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Europe stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |