Crossair given safety all-clear

Crossair planes given safety stamp of approval Keystone

An independent study into the safety standards of one of Switzerland's national airlines, Crossair, has given it the all-clear but says it is badly organised.

Crossair hit the headlines in January after a plane crashed minutes after taking off from Zurich airport killing all ten people on board.

The two independent auditors, charged with investigating the airline after the disaster, concluded Crossair could not keep up with a strong growth in demand.

Organisational difficulties and limited resources exacerbated the group’s inability to meet surging demand.

The audit by aeronautical engineer, Karl Ledeboer, and Klaus Nittinger, former director of Lufthansa’s technical services, highlighted that numerous changes to personnel scheduling had led to a bad working atmosphere among cabin crew.

There has been a high turnover of staff. Around 500 pilots have been recruited in the past three years.

As a result of work pressures, the well-being and private lives of cabin crew have suffered, while the increased number of delayed flights also served to aggravate the situation.

“There is no indication of incompetence on the part of the cockpit crew. They work in a professional manner and respect procedures,” reported the experts.

Crossair has said it would overhaul its organisation in accordance to the report’s recommendations. A new organisational structure was put into place at the beginning of April while pilots have just secured a pay rise with management.

swissinfo with agencies