A Swiss Airbus A220 steward who suffered smoke inhalation after a technical problem last week during a Bucharest-Zurich flight died Monday in a hospital in Graz. The flight had to make an emergency landing in the Austrian city. The Graz public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
“This is a dark day for all of us,” Swiss CEO Jens Fehlinger and COO Oliver Buchhofer said in a statement from the airline on Monday evening.
The young man who died was part of the cabin crew of flight LX 1885 which linked Bucharest to Zurich on December 23 with 74 passengers and five crew members on board. The aircraft, an Airbus A220-300, had to make an emergency landing in Graz due to the presence of smoke in the cockpit and cabin. Since this emergency landing, the Swiss employee has been in intensive care at Graz hospital.
>> More details in our article: Crew member seriously injured after emergency landing for Swiss plane in Austria
Five crew members and twelve passengers treated
The airline said it “will not provide detailed information on the cause of death and the victim” out of “respect for the loved ones”, it said.
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Another crew member who had also been treated at Graz University Hospital was able to leave the hospital in the meantime. A total of five crew members and twelve passengers received medical treatment after the incident, according to Swiss.
Investigation opened by the Graz public prosecutor’s office
The Graz public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to clarify the causes of the accident and ordered an autopsy. An expert must determine why the plane which took off from Bucharest released so much smoke that the flight had to be interrupted. The investigation is currently focusing on negligent bodily harm, said a spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office.
No information has been given so far on the exact cause of the incident. According to initial findings, a technical defect in one of the engines is probably to blame, Swiss said. The manufacturers of the aircraft (Bombarder, then Airbus, which took over the C-Series program) and the engines (Pratt & Whitney) were informed, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation.
The A220 has already had problems with its engines on several occasions. In incidents, parts were thrown outwards due to a malfunction. These incidents led to temporary operational shutdowns, of which Swiss was particularly the victim.
>> Read about it: Swiss grounded all its Airbus A220s, around a hundred flights canceled
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