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Switzerland takes over investigation into SWISS emergency landing in Austria

Swiss emergency landing in Graz is now being investigated by Switzerland
Swiss emergency landing in Graz is now being investigated by Switzerland Keystone-SDA

Following the emergency landing of a Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) plane in Austria last December, during which a crew member died, Austria has now handed over the investigation to Switzerland.

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The Austrian Ministry of Transport and the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (Sust) confirmed a related report in the Swiss Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Friday.

Due to a criminal complaint against unknown perpetrators within the Austrian Safety Investigation Board (SUB) and the subsequent investigation proceedings initiated against SUB employees, the head of SUB decided to relinquish supervision of the investigation in question and dismiss the responsible investigator in order to avoid any accusations of bias, the SUB told the Austrian news agency APA.

The Sust has therefore agreed to take over the investigation.

Emergency landing in December

Aircraft accidents are normally investigated in the country where they occur. In the case of the SWISS flight on December 23, this would be Austria, as the emergency landing took place in the city of Graz.

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On that date, the SWISS Airbus A220 was en route from Bucharest, Romania, to Zurich with 74 passengers and five crew members when the jet had to make an emergency landing in Graz due to engine problems and smoke in the cabin. Several people, including the crew members, were injured, some of them seriously.

A 23-year-old flight attendant later died in hospital.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

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