(Switzerland) Swissair @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Convair CV-240 - 1950 Convair CV-240 - 1950
    Convair CV-240 - 1950
  • Douglas DC-4-1009 Douglas DC-4-1009
    Douglas DC-4-1009
  • Convair CV-440 Convair CV-440
    Convair CV-440
  • Convair CV-99 Convair CV-99
    Convair CV-99
  • Douglas DC3 Douglas DC3
    Douglas DC3
  • Fokker F.VIIa Fokker F.VIIa
    Fokker F.VIIa
  • The MD-11 HB-IWF 50 days before it crashed at Peggys Cove The MD-11 HB-IWF 50 days before it crashed at Peggys Cove
    The MD-11 HB-IWF 50 days before it crashed at Peggys Cove

Swissair

Swissair was a Swiss airline that disappeared in 2002.

Balz Zimmermann and Walter Mittelholzer founded the company in 1931, with the merger of Balair and Ad Astra Aero.

Her Swiss flag bearer image collapsed in the French speaking part of the country, when, on 4 April 1996, was announced the withdrawal from the 1996-1997 winter schedule all of her long-haul flights from Geneva, but one (Geneva-New York).

In 2000, for the first time in 70 years of history, the company recorded a severe loss of US $ 1.8 billion, losing almost all her capital reserves.

Eventually, inadequate management of the group exacerbated these problems. The company did not respond clearly to her increasing debts. Swissair employed around 72,000 people worldwide (21,000 in Switzerland), a very high number, compared to most airlines.

The Brussels Court of Appeal of 27 January 2011 issued a judgment finding that Swissair was directly responsible for the bankruptcy of the Belgian national airline Sabena, as the Swiss company had not fulfilled her contractual obligations at the time to provide recapitalization of the Belgian company. The Swiss Federal Tribunal did of course refuse to recognize this judgment.

Swissair went bankrupt on October 2, 2001 and ceased operations in March 2002.

Accidents and incidents

  • July 27, 1934: crash in Wurmlingen (Landkreis Tuttlingen): This is the first fatal accident of the young company: the Curtiss AT-32C Condor, registered CH-170, crashes while on a flight from Zurich to Berlin. There were no survivors among the nine passengers and three crewmembers, including Nelly Diener, first stewardess in Europe.
  • February 28, 1936: crash of a Douglas DC-2 (HB-ITI) in Dübendorf.
  • April 30, 1936: crash of the Clark GA-43 HB-ITU on the Rigi (2 deaths).
  • August 12, 1936: Junkers Ju 86 HB-IXI crashes in Darmstadt-Wixhausen.
  • January 7 1939: crash of the Douglas DC-2 HB-ITA at Senlis, near Paris.
  • July 20, 1939: crash of the Junkers Ju 86 HB-IXA near Constance after engine failure.
  • August 9, 1944: destruction of the Douglas DC-2 HB-ISI during an Allied bombing on Stuttgart.
  • December 13, 1950: crash on landing due to bad weather of the Douglas DC-4 HB-ILE "Zürich" in Sydney (Nova Scotia). No injuries among the 31 passengers and crew members. The aircraft was destroyed by the fire that broke out after the evacuation of the occupants.
  • December 14, 1951: crash landing of the Douglas DC-4 HB-ILO "Luzern" at Amsterdam Schiphol in difficult weather conditions (fog), no casualties were reported.
  • 19 June 1954: A Convair CV-240 ditched due to fuel starvation in the English Channel, near Folkestone. All three crew members survived, but three of the five passengers drowned as they were unable to swim. Passenger aircraft at this time were not obliged to carry life rafts or life jackets, and this was one of the many incidents which led to such a requirement becoming law.
  • 15 July 1956: A Convair CV-440 crashed during a delivery flight from San Diego, California to Zurich via New York, Gander and Shannon. On approach to Shannon, the pilots executed an abnormally steep turn, causing the aircraft to stall and drop to the ground. Four crew members died.
  • 18 June 1957: A Douglas DC-3 crashed during an exercise conducted under visual flight rules with nine people aboard. All died. The aim of the exercise was to practice flying with one engine switched off and propellers feathered.
  • 4 September 1963: Without authorization, the pilot of Caravelle operating Flight 306 carrying seventy-four passengers and six crew members taxied halfway along a runway at Zurich Airport in order to inspect and clear fog. He then returned to the start of the runway and took off. Ten minutes later the aircraft crashed, killing all on board. Witnesses stated that during its initial ascent they saw smoke coming from one of its engines. Subsequent investigation established that braking during the pilot's unauthorized maneuver overheated a tire, causing it to burst, damaging a fuel line and starting the fire that ultimately led to loss of aircraft control. This accident had a significant impact on the small town of Humlikon, out of a population of just over 200, forty-three residents were killed in the accident.
  • 10 February 1967: A Convair CV-440 collided with a cloud-covered mountain; four crew members died.
  • 21 February 1970: A bomb on board a Convair CV-990 operating Flight 330 from Zurich to Tel Aviv, detonated in the aft cargo compartment of the aircraft about nine minutes after take-off climb-out. Forty-seven were killed when the aircraft crashed due to a subsequent electrical fire that crippled the aircraft before the pilots could attempt an emergency landing at Zurich.
  • 6 September 1970: Three empty hijacked jet airliners, one belonging to Swissair, were blown up by palestinian terrorists at Dawson's Field, Zerqa, Jordan. Those aircraft were a Swissair DC-8-53 (HB-IDD), a BOAC Vickers Super VC-10 (G-ASGN) and a TWA Boeing 707 (N8715T).
  • 8 October 1979: A Douglas DC-8 landed under "adverse conditions" at Athens Ellinikon International Airport, overshooting the runway and killing fourteen passengers. The plane touched down at too great a speed and too far along the runway for the pilots to use sufficient braking and reverse thrust.
  • 2 September 1998: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from New York's JFK International Airport to Geneva crashed due to fire and subsequent instrument failure at night off the coast of Peggy's Cove, 80 km southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia. All 215 passengers and 14 crew members were killed.

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