right, here are the official press releases about the incident…
SWISS aircraft forced to land at a military airfield
At about 20:35 yesterday, July 10, 2002, a SWISS aircraft was forced to land at a German military airfield because of exceptionally severe weather conditions. Because of this bad weather, Hamburg, the destination airport, was closed. Top priority was given for a diversion to Bremen. In the meantime, however, Bremen, Hanover and Berlin were also closed because of the weather. As a result, a landing at the military airfield at Werneuchen, about 60 km north-east of Berlin-Tegel, remained the only solution. In the process, obstacles on the runway caused problems.
During the roll-out on the runway, the aircraft’s undercarriage and propeller were severely damaged by obstacles lying on the runway. The Captain therefore ordered the passengers to leave the aircraft, as is usual in such cases.
On board the Saab 2000 HB-IZY, with the flight number LX 850, there were 16 passengers and four crew. Nobody was injured, the crew and the passengers are well.
SWISS immediately assembled a group of employees to look after the passengers and crew.
An accident enquiry has been launched.
SWISS, Corporate Communications
Postfach, CH – 4002 Basel
Tel.: +41 (0)848 773 773, +41 (0)1 564 21 20 oder +41 (0)1 564 00 00
Fax: +41 61 582 35 54
E-Mail: [email]communications@swiss.com[/email]
A debriefing of the crew of Wednesday’s flight LX 850 from Basel to Hamburg and further investigations have produced new findings on the aircraft’s landing at the former military airfield in Werneuchen, Brandenburg, Germany.
In addition to LX 850, the dramatic weather conditions on the evening of Wednesday, July 10 forced five flights of other airlines bound for Hamburg to land at alternate airports. In the case of LX 850, the closure of the various alternate airports selected (including, finally, Finow air force base) forced the crew to land at the former military airfield of Werneuchen in view of their dwindling fuel reserves.
The approach to Werneuchen, which had been recommended by air traffic control, was made to Runway 08, i.e. from the west. The crew had decided on this approach because it was Runway 08 which had been in use at Berlin (Tegel) before the approach there had had to be aborted in view of the weather conditions.
The former military airfield was equipped with a concrete runway of approximately 2400 metres during its service years. At present, only the eastern part of this is available for flying, providing a runway of 1500 metres. The westernmost 900 metres, which are no longer in use, are separated from this shortened runway by a low earth wall.
The pilots had no documentation on the airfield on board, since it is only used by sport aircraft. The western section is marked as closed by a series of crosses, though these have been severely weathered over the years. The old runway markings – centreline, threshold and distance markers within the former touchdown zone – are still shown, and are actually easier to identify than the out-of-use crosses. The pilots were also unable to see the earth wall during their approach, in view of the fading light and the generally poor visibility caused by the prevailing weather conditions. Werneuchen has no runway lights.
Note to editors: This is a summary of the facts known to us at 11:00 on Friday, July 12. Further information will follow as soon as it is available.
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