The Swiss crew member who died after an emergency landing in Austria died of brain damage due to a lack of oxygen, according to provisional autopsy results released to the German-speaking press. The model of the protective masks used during the flight is now in question.
The flight attendant’s brain was severely damaged by a lack of oxygen due to hypoxic brain injury, the Sunday View and to the NZZ on Sunday a spokesperson for the Graz public prosecutor’s office, where the crew member was hospitalized after an emergency landing of a Swiss flight linking Bucharest to Zurich due to smoke present in the aircraft.
These are provisional results. The autopsy of the body carried out on Friday will be followed by chemical and histological analyzes in the laboratory.
>> Read also: Death of the Swiss steward: what do you breathe on a plane?
The victim is a 23-year-old Swiss man who began his training at Swiss in October, reports SonntagsBlick. He died in intensive care.
The airline has never before experienced the loss of a crew member.
The effectiveness of masks questioned
According to the NZZ am Sonntag, the plane was equipped with special masks designed to protect crew members in the event of a fire or toxic fumes, but the question of why some stewards were unable to protect themselves properly remains.
This is not the first time that problems linked to these masks have been reported, notes the German-speaking newspaper. In July 2023, during a flight operated by Swiss over the English Channel, some masks were found to be defective after being unpacked, as revealed by a report from the Swiss Security Investigation Service (SESE).
In October of the same year, Swiss announced a program to replace defective masks over several months. However, this process had not yet been completed at the time of the incident on December 23, and the old models were still in use.
Their replacement requires between eight and sixteen months, defends Swiss spokesperson Meike Fuhlrott on Sunday in the NZZ. She emphasizes that these masks are certified and used by other airlines. Swiss also specifies that the majority of its fleet is already equipped with masks from a new manufacturer. Their total replacement is planned for the first quarter of 2025.
The MPC mobilized
The Sunday newspaper she reveals that the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Confederation (MPC) is now active in this matter. It is not currently conducting a criminal investigation, but is in close contact with the Austrian authorities, according to an OAG spokesperson.
The investigation is focusing on the engine failure of the crashed Airbus A220-300 and the effectiveness of the protective masks, specifies the SonntagsZeitung. The incident revealed a previously unknown defect in the engine, which will be dismantled and examined in the United States.
>> Read about it: A “previously unknown defect” on the engine of the Swiss Airbus which made an emergency landing in Graz
The American company RTX Corporation, owner of Pratt & Whitney, manufacturer of the defective engine, and Collins Aerospace, producer of the masks, is now in the spotlight. The company has not commented on possible defects in its products, but assures that it is cooperating with the authorities to clarify the circumstances of the incident.
iar/vajo with ats
