Investigation Uncovering If Link To Air Crash Exists
Swiss police are
investigating whether revenge was behind the stabbing death of the
air traffic controller on duty during a midair collision in which
dozens of Russian children were killed. The 36-year-old man was
stabbed at his home in the Zurich suburb of Kloten on Tuesday night
after a brief exchange of words with another man, who police said
spoke broke German. The air traffic controller -- whose identity
has never been made public -- was attacked in front of his wife,
police told The Associated Press.
Investigators refused to rule out a connection between the
slaying and the July 1, 2002, collision of a Russian charter
airliner with a DHL cargo plane in air space over southern Germany
controlled by Switzerland. Public prosecutor Pascal Gossner told
Reuters: "We are looking into whether there is a link between the
killing and the air accident."However, Gossner said a connection
between the crash and the stabbing "is really speculation."
"You have to say he (the suspect) spoke broken German. But you
cannot say he was from Russia," he said.
Seventy-one people, most of them Russian schoolchildren, were
killed in the midair collision. The air traffic controller,
described as a Danish citizen and the father of three children, had
lived in Switzerland for five years at the time of the crash. Air
accident investigators have said the controller told the pilot of
the Russian plane to descend when its onboard collision warning
equipment was demanding it climb.
The pilot followed the
instructions of the controller, which put the jetliner on collision
course with the cargo plane, which also was descending in
accordance with its collision-avoidance equipment. Skyguide, the
Swiss company for the which the air traffic controller worked, said
it was appalled by the slaying and that its employees "were in
shock." In response to the killing, Skyguide said flights crossing
through Swiss air space and takeoffs and landings at Zurich's
airport would be temporarily reduced by 40 percent.
"The staff of Skyguide are shocked, appalled and deeply
bewildered by the murder of their colleague and friend," it said in
a statement. "The capacity will be gradually raised as soon as
conditions allow."
The employees and the controller's family are receiving special
counseling, and Zurich state police have helped organize special
protection, AP reported.