A SWISS flight attendant has passed away a week after working on a flight that made an emergency landing due to smoke in the cabin. The unnamed flight attendant was admitted to intensive care following the incident and sadly did not recover.
SWISS flight attendant dies in hospital after cabin smoke incident
On December 23rd, SWISS
flight LX1885 from Bucharest (OTP) to Zurich (ZRH) was forced to make an emergency landing in Graz (GRZ) after a Smoke
event in the cabin. Upon landing, two flight attendants and ten passengers were taken to hospital, one of whom was admitted to a critical care unit. News has now emerged that this flight attendant has tragically passed away, surrounded by his family and loved ones.
In an update, SWISS announced that “our young colleague died in the hospital in Graz on Monday 30 December.” Reports say that the flight attendant collapsed in the cabin while searching for the source of the smoke, presumably while wearing protective breathing equipment (PBE). SWISS CEO Jens Fehlinger said,
“We are devastated at our dear colleague’s death. His loss has left us all in the deepest shock and grief. Our thoughts are with his family, whose pain we cannot imagine.”
Related
SWISS Airbus A220 Flight From Bucharest Makes Emergency Landing In Austria Due To Smoke In Cabin
The passengers from the affected flight are being flown onwards to their destination this morning.
The incident happened onboard a SWISS Airbus A220-300 – all 74 passengers and five crew were evacuated from the aircraft using its inflatable slides when it landed in Graz, and a helicopter was waiting to rush the unconscious flight attendant to Graz Hospital.
Photo: Photofex_AUT | Shutterstock
SWISS Chief Operating Officer Oliver Buchhofer added,
“Losing our colleague and fellow member of our SWISS team leaves me distraught and dismayed. But we stand with one another at this truly difficult time; and we will be doing our utmost, together with the relevant authorities, to determine the causes involved.”
SWISS still investigating
SWISS said it continues to investigate the cabin smoke incident and the circumstances around the flight attendant’s collapse, and is working with relevant authorities. This will include enginemaker Pratt & Whitney, which supplies the A220s PW1500G engines.
Photo: Karlis Dambrans | Shutterstock
In a statement, the carrier said its preliminary findings indicated a “technical problem in one of the engines” but noted that the investigation will be complex. The airline added,
“Our teams of experts are working hard over the festive season to evaluate all the facts and findings available, and are in close contact with the authorities.”
According to an Av Herald report, the issue was caused by an oil leak from the left-hand engine, which led to an uncontained engine failure. This corroborates earlier reports from passengers who said they heard an explosion.
Additionally, SWISS will look into the aircraft’s protective breathing equipment, which appears to have not worked properly if the flight attendant wore it before passing out. These “smoke hoods” are equipped with a small supply of oxygen that lets the wearer breathe safely during smoke events.
Photo: SWISS
In October 2023, the Swiss carrier announced it was ordering a review of one of two PBE models it furnishes its fleet with. Apparently, these smoke hoods had not worked as intended or were difficult to remove from their packaging during two onboard incidents that summer, prompting the carrier to replace more than 1,000 units.
The Airbus A220-300 involved (registration: HB-JCD) is a seven-year-old airframe delivered to SWISS in November 2017. The aircraft remains grounded in Graz at the time of publication, with reports indicating its left-hand engine is due to be replaced.
