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Scrumpot 1
Here's another one for you. The link would require a subscription, so instead I have cut-n-pasted the entire story:
From "Avweb", aviations e-news magazine
Controller Linked To Crash Murdered...
Random Act Or Revenge?...
On Tuesday, an air traffic controller who worked for Skyguide, the Swiss airspace agency, was stabbed to death in his home in Kloten, near Zurich. The victim had been the sole controller on duty in July 2002 when two airplanes collided in Swiss airspace over Lake Constance, killing 71 people, many of them Russian schoolchildren. He was a 36-year-old Danish citizen, a father of three, and was never publicly identified in connection with the crash. Police said a dark-haired man in his 50s rang the doorbell at the controller's home. When the controller answered the door, a fierce and brief argument ensued. The controller was stabbed and the attacker escaped on foot. Yesterday, some news reports said the police think the suspect is the father of one of the schoolchildren who died. A group based in Russia representing the interests of victims' families expressed dismay over the attack. "The relatives understand that one can't return the victims of the air crash and the death of the dispatcher would only harm negotiations with the governments of Germany and Switzerland," Yulia Fedotova, a spokeswoman for the group, told Pravda. "We don't want to think that the death of the air traffic controller was connected with the investigation into the causes behind the crash, but it is possible that he became yet one more victim of the catastrophe."
...As Midair Investigation Continues
Yesterday, Skyguide scaled back flights by 40 percent in Zurich airspace, to help ensure security and out of consideration for its workers. A quarter of Skyguide's Zurich staff did not report for work. Skyguide had been heavily criticized in the wake of the midair collision. Investigators found that only one controller was on duty while his colleague took a break, a collision-alert system was down for maintenance, and a phone warning from German controllers never get through. The Russian pilot of a Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154 was told by the controller to descend, although his onboard anti-collision system was telling him to climb. The pilot obeyed the controller and descended, colliding with the DHL cargo plane, a Boeing 757. The DHL flight with two pilots on board was also descending. Two weeks after the crash, the controller said in a statement that network errors had been to blame. Yesterday the company said in a statement, "Skyguide employees are in a state of shock and fury and are deeply shaken by the murder of their colleague and friend." Officials have stepped up protection for the second controller who was on duty the night of the crash, as well as for other Skyguide staff. The official report on the crash is expected next month.
From "Avweb", aviations e-news magazine
Controller Linked To Crash Murdered...
Random Act Or Revenge?...
On Tuesday, an air traffic controller who worked for Skyguide, the Swiss airspace agency, was stabbed to death in his home in Kloten, near Zurich. The victim had been the sole controller on duty in July 2002 when two airplanes collided in Swiss airspace over Lake Constance, killing 71 people, many of them Russian schoolchildren. He was a 36-year-old Danish citizen, a father of three, and was never publicly identified in connection with the crash. Police said a dark-haired man in his 50s rang the doorbell at the controller's home. When the controller answered the door, a fierce and brief argument ensued. The controller was stabbed and the attacker escaped on foot. Yesterday, some news reports said the police think the suspect is the father of one of the schoolchildren who died. A group based in Russia representing the interests of victims' families expressed dismay over the attack. "The relatives understand that one can't return the victims of the air crash and the death of the dispatcher would only harm negotiations with the governments of Germany and Switzerland," Yulia Fedotova, a spokeswoman for the group, told Pravda. "We don't want to think that the death of the air traffic controller was connected with the investigation into the causes behind the crash, but it is possible that he became yet one more victim of the catastrophe."
...As Midair Investigation Continues
Yesterday, Skyguide scaled back flights by 40 percent in Zurich airspace, to help ensure security and out of consideration for its workers. A quarter of Skyguide's Zurich staff did not report for work. Skyguide had been heavily criticized in the wake of the midair collision. Investigators found that only one controller was on duty while his colleague took a break, a collision-alert system was down for maintenance, and a phone warning from German controllers never get through. The Russian pilot of a Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154 was told by the controller to descend, although his onboard anti-collision system was telling him to climb. The pilot obeyed the controller and descended, colliding with the DHL cargo plane, a Boeing 757. The DHL flight with two pilots on board was also descending. Two weeks after the crash, the controller said in a statement that network errors had been to blame. Yesterday the company said in a statement, "Skyguide employees are in a state of shock and fury and are deeply shaken by the murder of their colleague and friend." Officials have stepped up protection for the second controller who was on duty the night of the crash, as well as for other Skyguide staff. The official report on the crash is expected next month.
coitus non circum - Moab Stone
Not only could it happen, it has. Read this story.
Mark
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