Swissair plane crashes

The following are significant events involving the airline or its subsidiares. The numbered events are those involving at least one airline passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role, and where at least one of the dead passengers was not a stowaway, hijacker, or saboteur. Only events since 1970 are included.

The events listed below cover the period from 1970 to when Swissair ceased operations in 2002.

1. 21 February 1970; Swissair Convair 990; near Wuerenlingen, Switzerland: The aircraft had an onboard explosion shortly after takeoff on a flight to Tel Aviv. The crew had difficulty seeing the instruments due to smoke in the cockpit and the aircraft crashed a short time later. The explosion was due to a bomb. All nine crew members and 38 passengers were killed.

2. 7 October 1979; Swissair DC8-60; near Athens, Greece: The aircraft touched down long on the runway at night during rainy weather conditions. The aircraft eventually overran the runway and caught fire. Fourteen of the 142 passengers were killed.

3. 2 September 1998; Swissair MD11; near Halifax, Canada: The aircraft was on a nonstop flight from New York's JFK airport to Geneva. The aircraft crashed at night in the Atlantic Ocean close to shore about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia. All 15 crew members and 214 passengers were killed.
   MD11 plane crashes
   Transportation Safety Board of Canada accident report
   More about this event

4. 10 January 2000; Crossair Saab 340; Zurich, Switzerland:
   The aircraft had just departed on a flight to Dresden, Germany when it crashed just north of the runway. The three crew members and seven passengers were all killed.
   aab 340 plane crashes

5. 24 November 2001; Crossair Avro RJ100; near Zurich, Switzerland: The aircraft was on a flight from Berlin, Germany to Zurich, Switzerland when it crashed into a wooded area about two miles (3.2 km) from the runway during a night approach to Zurich's airport. Three of the five crew members and 21 of the 28 passengers were killed.
   BAe 146/Avro RJ100 plane crashes