Crossair Flight 498
Encyclopedia
Crossair Flight LX498 was a commuter
flight from Zurich
, Switzerland to Dresden
, Germany that crashed two minutes after takeoff in the Swiss municipality of Niederhasli
on 10 January 2000. The seven passengers and three crewmembers aboard the two-turboprop
engine Saab 340
aircraft all died on impact. It was the first fatal crash for the Swiss regional airline Crossair
in its 25-year history.
The official report into the disaster found that the crash was due to a loss of control resulting from multiple human failures. An alternative theory has been developed that suggests the crash may instead have been the result of mobile phone
use interfering with the aircraft. The theory resulted in multiple countries banning mobile phone usage on aircraft
.
airplane used for Crossair Flight LX498 had been lease
d to Crossair from Moldavian Airlines
since 1 October 1999. The plane was scheduled to depart from Zurich Airport (Switzerland) on Monday, 10 January 2000, at around 6:00 p.m. and arrive in Dresden Airport (Germany) a few hours later. The cold, drizzly
weather was normal for the area, there were no indications that anything was wrong with the aircraft, and, although this particular aircraft had 24,000 flying hours since its November 1990 delivery, this type of airplane had a very good safety record. The pilot had 8,100 hours of flying time, with 1,900 in the Saab 340 type and the co-pilot had about 1,800 total hours and 1,100 hours in the Saab 340 type. The plane was carrying no unusual payload such as freight or mail
and the plane was not due for its next regular maintenance check for another 21 days, on 31 January 2000.
28 heading west. From takeoff, the plane climbed normally. But after 7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi) the plane suddenly started to lose altitude and turn to the right instead of following the approved flight path to the left. When air traffic controller
s asked the pilot if he meant to turn right, they were answered with "Stand by," followed by a loss of radio contact.
At 6.05 p.m. (1705 GMT), one minute 56 seconds into the flight, the plane disappeared from radar screens. Officials later determined that the plane went into a diving right turn before vanishing from radar screens. Burning wreckage was scattered for 200–300 meters close to houses at Niederhasli, some 5 kilometres (3 mi) northwest of the runway at Zurich's Kloten airport. The flight data
and cockpit voice
recorders were recovered from the accident scene, both heavily damaged.
– Steffen Braun, 36; Klaus Friedrich, 48; Matthias Morche, 22; and Peter Schmidt, 31. The others were a Frenchman
, Pascal Rol, 43, a Swiss, Heinz Hoefler, 61, and a Spaniard
who traveled to Zurich on a Swissair
flight from Madrid
, and of which no details are available. The three person crew included Moldova
n pilot Pavel Gruzin, Slovakia
n copilot Rastislav Kolesar and a French flight attendant, Severine Jabrin. There were no survivors.
At that time, Crossair was a majority owned subsidiary of SAirGroup. The crash of Crossair Flight LX498 was the first time in Crossair's 25-year history that the regional airline had lost an aircraft, and was the deadliest accident to hit the SAirGroup since the crash of Swissair Flight 111
, a MD11 flying from New York to Geneva
crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia
, Canada in September 1998, killing all 229 aboard.
At the time, Crossair operated 17 Saab-340 type planes, but eventually phased them out with Embraer ERJ-145
regional jet
s. The crash came about in the midst of a bitter labor-management dispute between Crossair and its pilots over a possible pay raise and work rules changes. The pilots' union had just canceled pay agreements with Crossair in December, 1999, with a termination effective in summer 2000. In addition, and prior to the accident, two Crossair pilots told Swiss media that some foreign pilots employed by Crossair pose a safety risk because of an insufficient knowledge of English. These two pilots were fired by Crossair, but were then elected to head the pilots' union, "Crossair Cockpit Personnel (CCP)". Flight LX498's crew consisted of a captain from Moldova
and a copilot from Slovakia
. An investigation of the accident later revealed that Pilot Gruzin and copilot Kolesar were only able to communicate with each other in English, but Gruzin's ability to speak English was too limited to hold more than a basic conversation.
After the crash, both Crossair and CCP, including the pilots who had previously spoken to the media and been fired, publicly stated that the coincidence between the accident and the dispute was very unfortunate and that reports about pilot error being involved in the crash were speculation, although this conclusion was later established to be the probable cause
of the accident.
of Crossair Flight LX498, there had been only four crashes worldwide of the 400 Saab-340 plane types since 1984 and only two of those were hull losses. The two hull losses were a 1994 KLM Cityhopper
crash that killed three in the Netherlands and a 1998 Formosa Airlines
crash that killed 13 in Taiwan
.
An examination of pilot Pavel Gruzin's body revealed traces of the tranquilizer Phenazepam
in his muscle tissue. Examiners also found an open packet of the Russian-made drug in baggage belonging to Gruzin.
, the accident was attributable to the flight crew losing control of the aircraft for the following reasons:
According to this same Investigation Report, the following factors may have contributed to the accident:
. However, a separate investigation into the cause of the crash showed that the autopilot system malfunctioned at the same time that a passenger's cell phone on board the plane received an SMS
message and another received a call. After this information was made public, a number of countries that had previously been reluctant to do so outlawed cell phones on flights (including Switzerland).
Commuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
flight from Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland to Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Germany that crashed two minutes after takeoff in the Swiss municipality of Niederhasli
Niederhasli
Niederhasli is a municipality in the district of Dielsdorf in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Niederhasli has an area of . Of this area, 58.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 21.5% is forested...
on 10 January 2000. The seven passengers and three crewmembers aboard the two-turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
engine Saab 340
Saab 340
The Saab 340 is a discontinued Swedish two-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by a partnership between Saab and Fairchild Aircraft in a 65:35 ratio...
aircraft all died on impact. It was the first fatal crash for the Swiss regional airline Crossair
Crossair
Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport was a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland...
in its 25-year history.
The official report into the disaster found that the crash was due to a loss of control resulting from multiple human failures. An alternative theory has been developed that suggests the crash may instead have been the result of mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
use interfering with the aircraft. The theory resulted in multiple countries banning mobile phone usage on aircraft
Mobile phones on aircraft
As of 2011, most airlines do not allow the use of mobile phones on aircraft, because it is thought they could adversely affect the navigational instruments in the cockpit...
.
Background
The 33-seat Saab-340BSaab 340
The Saab 340 is a discontinued Swedish two-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by a partnership between Saab and Fairchild Aircraft in a 65:35 ratio...
airplane used for Crossair Flight LX498 had been lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
d to Crossair from Moldavian Airlines
Moldavian Airlines
Moldavian Airlines is an airline based at Chişinău in Moldova. It operates scheduled international services from Chişinău to destinations in Europe...
since 1 October 1999. The plane was scheduled to depart from Zurich Airport (Switzerland) on Monday, 10 January 2000, at around 6:00 p.m. and arrive in Dresden Airport (Germany) a few hours later. The cold, drizzly
Drizzle
Drizzle is a light rain precipitation consisting of liquid water drops smaller than those of rain, and generally smaller than 0.5 mm in diameter. Drizzle is normally produced by low stratiform clouds and stratocumulus clouds. Precipitation rates due to drizzle are on the order of a millimetre...
weather was normal for the area, there were no indications that anything was wrong with the aircraft, and, although this particular aircraft had 24,000 flying hours since its November 1990 delivery, this type of airplane had a very good safety record. The pilot had 8,100 hours of flying time, with 1,900 in the Saab 340 type and the co-pilot had about 1,800 total hours and 1,100 hours in the Saab 340 type. The plane was carrying no unusual payload such as freight or mail
Airmail
Airmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...
and the plane was not due for its next regular maintenance check for another 21 days, on 31 January 2000.
Event
After the seven passengers and three crewmembers boarded, the plane was cleared for takeoff on time at 5.55 p.m. (1755 GMT). The aircraft departed RunwayRunway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
28 heading west. From takeoff, the plane climbed normally. But after 7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi) the plane suddenly started to lose altitude and turn to the right instead of following the approved flight path to the left. When air traffic controller
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills...
s asked the pilot if he meant to turn right, they were answered with "Stand by," followed by a loss of radio contact.
At 6.05 p.m. (1705 GMT), one minute 56 seconds into the flight, the plane disappeared from radar screens. Officials later determined that the plane went into a diving right turn before vanishing from radar screens. Burning wreckage was scattered for 200–300 meters close to houses at Niederhasli, some 5 kilometres (3 mi) northwest of the runway at Zurich's Kloten airport. The flight data
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
and cockpit voice
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
recorders were recovered from the accident scene, both heavily damaged.
Parties involved
Four of the passengers were GermansGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
– Steffen Braun, 36; Klaus Friedrich, 48; Matthias Morche, 22; and Peter Schmidt, 31. The others were a Frenchman
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Pascal Rol, 43, a Swiss, Heinz Hoefler, 61, and a Spaniard
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
who traveled to Zurich on a Swissair
Swissair
Swissair AG was the former national airline of Switzerland.It was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero , in 1931...
flight from Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, and of which no details are available. The three person crew included Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
n pilot Pavel Gruzin, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
n copilot Rastislav Kolesar and a French flight attendant, Severine Jabrin. There were no survivors.
At that time, Crossair was a majority owned subsidiary of SAirGroup. The crash of Crossair Flight LX498 was the first time in Crossair's 25-year history that the regional airline had lost an aircraft, and was the deadliest accident to hit the SAirGroup since the crash of Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111 was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland...
, a MD11 flying from New York to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada in September 1998, killing all 229 aboard.
At the time, Crossair operated 17 Saab-340 type planes, but eventually phased them out with Embraer ERJ-145
Embraer ERJ 145 family
The Embraer ERJ 145 family is a series of regional jets produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. Family members include the ERJ 135 , ERJ 140 , and ERJ 145 , as well as the Legacy business jet and the R-99 family of military aircraft. The ERJ 145 is the largest of the group...
regional jet
Regional jet
A Regional jet , is a class of short to medium-range turbofan powered airliners.-History:The term "Regional jet" describes a range of short to medium-haul turbofan powered aircraft, whose use throughout the world expanded after the advent of Airline Deregulation in the United States in...
s. The crash came about in the midst of a bitter labor-management dispute between Crossair and its pilots over a possible pay raise and work rules changes. The pilots' union had just canceled pay agreements with Crossair in December, 1999, with a termination effective in summer 2000. In addition, and prior to the accident, two Crossair pilots told Swiss media that some foreign pilots employed by Crossair pose a safety risk because of an insufficient knowledge of English. These two pilots were fired by Crossair, but were then elected to head the pilots' union, "Crossair Cockpit Personnel (CCP)". Flight LX498's crew consisted of a captain from Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
and a copilot from Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. An investigation of the accident later revealed that Pilot Gruzin and copilot Kolesar were only able to communicate with each other in English, but Gruzin's ability to speak English was too limited to hold more than a basic conversation.
After the crash, both Crossair and CCP, including the pilots who had previously spoken to the media and been fired, publicly stated that the coincidence between the accident and the dispute was very unfortunate and that reports about pilot error being involved in the crash were speculation, although this conclusion was later established to be the probable cause
Probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the...
of the accident.
Official explanation
Background
The Saab 340 is widely used in the United States, Australia and elsewhere as a commuter plane. Prior to the hull lossAviation accidents and incidents
An aviation accident is defined in the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, in which a...
of Crossair Flight LX498, there had been only four crashes worldwide of the 400 Saab-340 plane types since 1984 and only two of those were hull losses. The two hull losses were a 1994 KLM Cityhopper
KLM Cityhopper
KLM Cityhopper is the regional subsidiary of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines . The airline, with its head office, the Convair Building, on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Schiphol-Oost, Haarlemmermeer, operates short haul services in and around Europe...
crash that killed three in the Netherlands and a 1998 Formosa Airlines
Formosa Airlines
-Code data:*IATA Code: VY, Currently assigned to Vueling Airlines*ICAO Code: FOS-History:Formosa Airlines was established in 1987. On 8 August 1999, China Airlines formally merged its subsidiary, Mandarin Airlines , with Formosa Airlines under the Mandarin name...
crash that killed 13 in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
An examination of pilot Pavel Gruzin's body revealed traces of the tranquilizer Phenazepam
Phenazepam
Phenazepam is a benzodiazepine drug, which was developed in the Soviet Union and now produced in Russia and some CIS countries. Phenazepam is used in the treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy, alcohol withdrawal syndrome and insomnia...
in his muscle tissue. Examiners also found an open packet of the Russian-made drug in baggage belonging to Gruzin.
Causes
According to the Investigation Report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation BureauAircraft Accident Investigation Bureau
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is the Switzerland bureau of aircraft accident investigation. The bureau is headquartered on the grounds of Payerne Airport and in Payerne.-External links:* *...
, the accident was attributable to the flight crew losing control of the aircraft for the following reasons:
- The flight crew reacted inappropriately when departure clearance was ordered by ATC.
- The co-pilot made an entry without being instructed to do so by the commander, which related to the change to the SID ZUE 1 standard instrument departure. In doing so, he omitted to select a turn direction.
- The commander dispensed with use of the autopilotAutopilotAn autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...
under instrument flight conditions and during the work-intensive climb phase of the flight. - The commander took the aircraft into a spiral dive to the right because, with a probability bordering on certainty, he had lost spatial orientation.
- The first officer took only inadequate measures to prevent or recover from the spiral dive.
According to this same Investigation Report, the following factors may have contributed to the accident:
- The commander remained unilaterally firm in perceptions which suggested a left turn direction to him.
- When interpreting the attitude display instrumentsAttitude indicatorAn attitude indicator , also known as gyro horizon or artificial horizon, is an instrument used in an aircraft to inform the pilot of the orientation of the aircraft relative to earth. It indicates pitch and bank or roll and is a primary instrument for flight in instrument meteorological conditions...
under stress, the commander resorted to a reaction pattern (heuristics) which he had learned earlier. - The commander’s capacity for analysis and critical assessment of the situation were possibly limited as a result of the effects of medicationPhenazepamPhenazepam is a benzodiazepine drug, which was developed in the Soviet Union and now produced in Russia and some CIS countries. Phenazepam is used in the treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy, alcohol withdrawal syndrome and insomnia...
. - After the change to standard instrument departure SID ZUE 1Y the crew set inappropriate priorities for their tasks and their concentration remained one-sided.
- The commander was not systematically acquainted by Crossair with the specific features of western systems and cockpit procedures.
Alternative theory
The government crash report does not mention cell phone activity as a primary cause of the crash, and instead attributes it to pilot errorPilot error
Pilot error is a term used to describe the cause of an accident involving an airworthy aircraft where the pilot is considered to be principally or partially responsible...
. However, a separate investigation into the cause of the crash showed that the autopilot system malfunctioned at the same time that a passenger's cell phone on board the plane received an SMS
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
message and another received a call. After this information was made public, a number of countries that had previously been reluctant to do so outlawed cell phones on flights (including Switzerland).
See also
- Mobile phones on aircraftMobile phones on aircraftAs of 2011, most airlines do not allow the use of mobile phones on aircraft, because it is thought they could adversely affect the navigational instruments in the cockpit...
- Crossair Flight 3597Crossair Flight 3597Crossair Flight LX 3597 was an Avro RJ100 regional airliner, registration HB-IXM, on a scheduled flight from Berlin, Germany to Zurich, Switzerland that crashed during its approach to land at Zurich Airport on 24 November 2001...
External links
- Crossair Press Portal - Contains press releases regarding Crossair Flight 498
- Investigation Report on the accident to the Saab 340B aircraft, registration HB-AKK of Crossair Flight CRX498 on 10 January 2000 near Nassenwil/ZH - Aircraft Accident Investigation BureauAircraft Accident Investigation BureauAircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is the Switzerland bureau of aircraft accident investigation. The bureau is headquartered on the grounds of Payerne Airport and in Payerne.-External links:* *...
- German version (original)
- French version
- Accident details
- Mythbusters Cell Phones on Planes
- Cockpit voice recorder transcript