#6334 #6335
[Third Issue of the Day]
#2
Russian airline head says air control caused crash
MOSCOW, July 2 (Reuters) - The head of the Russian airline whose plane collided mid-air with a cargo jet over Germany killing some 71 people said on Tuesday air traffic controllers were to blame for the crash.
The two jets were both diving to avoid colliding when they smashed into each other on Monday night in what officials have called one of the worst air accidents in German history.
The crash victims included 52 Russian children and teenagers.
"My version is that the (air) traffic controllers are to blame," Bashkirian Airlines General Director Nikolai Odegov told reporters at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.
He did not specify which air traffic controllers he was referring to. The crash took place in mid-air above Lake Constance on the Swiss-German border.
Anton Maag -- an official at Skyguide, the Swiss air traffic controllers body monitoring the flights on Monday night -- said instructions to the Russian pilot to reduce altitude to avoid a collision were given "a good minute" before the fatal accident.
Maag said the air traffic controller in charge at the time was working alone as his partner took a break because of the light air traffic. Five planes were in the sector they were monitoring at the time, including the two planes that crashed.
Odegov also underlined earlier assertions by Russian airline officials that the pilots on board the Russian plane were very experienced and spoke English well.
Distraught parents and airline officials said the children had missed their original flight connection to Barcelona, and had instead been put on a Bashkirian Airlines charter flight which left Moscow for Spain late on Monday.
The children were from the oil-rich Bashkortostan region, Bashkirian's home base.
Back to the Top Next Article
July 2, 2002:
#6333 #6334 #6335
- Back to the Top -