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Egyptian charter banned from Switzerland for more than a year
Bern, Switzerland, Jan 04: The Egyptian charter company whose plane crashed into the red sea killing 148 people had been banned from flying to Switzerland for more than a year because of technical problems, a civil aviation official said today.
Bern, Switzerland, Jan 04: The Egyptian charter
company whose plane crashed into the red sea killing 148
people had been banned from flying to Switzerland for more
than a year because of technical problems, a civil aviation
official said today.
"A series of safety shortcomings showed up in a plane of
flash airlines during a routine security check at Zurich
airport in October 2002," said Celestine Perissinotto,
spokeswoman for the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation,
confirming Swiss and French television reports.
She told reporters that she was unable to go into detail about the problems of the company, whose Boeing 737 crashed after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, yesterday, killing everyone on board. Most of the passengers were French tourists.
"It concerned violations of the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization," Perissinotto said.
She said the Swiss report was given both to the airline and to Egyptian civil aviation authorities.
"Since then we have had no reaction," Perissinotto said.
The airline has been banned from entering or flying over Switzerland since October 2002, but one of its planes was allowed to make a landing in Geneva last year for exceptional reasons, she added, confirming a report in the weekly newspaper Sonntagsblick.
Bureau Report
She told reporters that she was unable to go into detail about the problems of the company, whose Boeing 737 crashed after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, yesterday, killing everyone on board. Most of the passengers were French tourists.
"It concerned violations of the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization," Perissinotto said.
She said the Swiss report was given both to the airline and to Egyptian civil aviation authorities.
"Since then we have had no reaction," Perissinotto said.
The airline has been banned from entering or flying over Switzerland since October 2002, but one of its planes was allowed to make a landing in Geneva last year for exceptional reasons, she added, confirming a report in the weekly newspaper Sonntagsblick.
Bureau Report