GERMANY: GERMAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL UNABLE TO WARN SWISS AUTHORITIES OF IMPENDING TU 154 AND BOEING PLANE COLLISION BECAUSE PHONE LINE WAS BUSY
Record ID:
208496
GERMANY: GERMAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL UNABLE TO WARN SWISS AUTHORITIES OF IMPENDING TU 154 AND BOEING PLANE COLLISION BECAUSE PHONE LINE WAS BUSY
- Title: GERMANY: GERMAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL UNABLE TO WARN SWISS AUTHORITIES OF IMPENDING TU 154 AND BOEING PLANE COLLISION BECAUSE PHONE LINE WAS BUSY
- Date: 8th July 2002
- Summary: (U5) LANGEN, GERMANY (JULY 8, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. CU SIGN READING "DFS" (GERMAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL) 0.07 2. WIDE OF MEN WALKING PAST DFS GERMAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL BUILDING 0.16 3. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) AXEL RAAB, HEAD OF PRESS AT DFS SAYING: "Air traffic controllers in Karlsruhe saw that the two planes were on collision course, meaning they saw the impending collision on their radar screen. The collision warning system on the ground gave a warning and the colleagues in Karlsruhe then immediately tried to call Skyguide in Zurich to warn them of a possible collision. Unfortunately they could not reach them on the phone because the line was constantly busy and so they could not warn them." 0.49 4. SMV DFS SIGN WITH CONTROL TOWER IN BACKGROUND 0.56 5. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) RAAB SAYING: "There are of course several phone lines and normally it would be possible to contact them on different lines but as far as we know that night the phone system at Skyguide was turned off because of maintenance. There was only one replacement line and that line was busy so they could not reach their colleagues in Switzerland." 1.20 (U5) ÃœBERLINGEN, GERMANY (JULY 8, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6. VARIOUS OF MEMORIAL CROSS WITH DATE OF ACCIDENT ,SURROUNDED BY FLOWERS AND WREATHS AT SITE OF PLANE CRASH 1.35 7. SCU CANDLES /SOFT TOYS /WREATHS /PHOTOS (4 SHOTS) 2.03 8. VARIOUS OF CHILDREN VISITING MEMORIAL (2 SHOTS) 2.21 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 23rd July 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ÃœBERLINGEN and LANGEN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVAB30JEY8AT5NT736F0IFOOGUNH
- Story Text: German air traffic controllers have said they had
tried to warn their Swiss colleagues about the impending
collision of two planes that crashed last week, but could not
contact the Swiss by telephone.
A spokesman for Germany's DFS air traffic control
agency told Reuters Television on Monday (July 8) that
controllers in Karlsruhe, southern Germany, had seen that the
Russian Tupolev-154 plane and the Boeing 757 cargo plane were
on a collision course last Monday night (July 1).
"Air traffic controllers saw that the two planes were on
collision course (and) immediately tried to call Skyguide in
Zurich to warn them of a possible collision," said Axel Raab,
head of press at German Air Traffic Control (DFS) in Langen,
south of Frankfurt.
"Unfortunately they could not reach them on the phone
because the line was constantly busy and so they could not
warn them," Raab said.
Swiss air traffic control body Skyguide was overseeing the
two planes at the time of the crash over the German-Swiss
border that killed all 71 people on board the planes, mostly
Russian children.
Skyguide has come under increasing pressure over its role
in the collision.
Germany's BFU air accident investigation authority has
said Skyguide was late alerting the Russian pilot that he was
on collision course.
On Monday (July 8) German investigators said the Russian
airliner received a warning from Swiss air traffic control
that conflicted with that of its own on-board computer.
The BFU German air accident investigation agency said the
onboard "TCAS" crash avoidance system of the Tupolev-154 had
told the pilot to climb while Swiss controllers told it to
descend.
The aircraft descended and crashed into a Boeing cargo
plane killing all 71 people on board the planes.
TCAS, an abbreviation for Traffic Alert and Collision
Avoidance System, is fitted in most large commercial jets. Its
failure to prevent the crash had been a mystery in the
investigation. The BFU said its information was based on the
flight recorders of both aircraft.
Skyguide itself has said an automatic collision warning
system at Zurich airport was switched off at the time of the
crash, and that one of the two controllers on duty was taking
a break.
German officials on Sunday (July 7) recovered the last two
bodies of the 71 people killed, and 33 have been flown back to
Russia.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None