Said Controller Was Responsible For Mid-Air That Killed His Family

A Russian architect whose family was killed three years ago in a mid-air collision between a cargo and a Bashkirian Airlines flight was sentenced to eight years in a Swiss prison for murdering the only air traffic controller on duty at the time of the crash.

The Zurich Superior Court convicted Vitaly Kaloyev of premeditated homicide in the stabbing death of air traffic controller Peter Nielsen. Court officials said he could have been charged with first-degree murder, but was instead convicted on a charge of premeditated homicide. Kaloyev, 49, was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The Russian architect admitted that he must have killed Nielsen, who died at his home, in front of his family. But Kaloyev said he couldn't remember doing so.

Kaloyev's wife and two daughters were on the Bashkirian Airlines flight when it collided with a DHL cargo aircraft over southern Germany. Nielsen, the only controller on duty at the time, gave the Bashkirian flight 44 seconds' warning and ordered the aircraft to descend -- right into the path of the freighter. The crash left 71 people dead. Kaloyev left his work site in Spain and went to the crash site immediately, where he found his daughter's body virtually intact.

His lawyers had pleaded for a reduced charge of manslaughter, saying the Russian architect was under great psychological stress.

FMI: www.skyguide.ch