Swiss Authorities Investigating Serious Incident at Zurich Airport

The Swiss Safety Investigation Board (Sust) has launched an investigation into a serious incident that occurred at Zurich Airport earlier this year. According to a preliminary report released on Friday, a runway control vehicle with the call sign "Gusti-1" approached a runway intersection as a Swiss Airbus A320-214 was taking off in the direction of Brussels.

The incident, which occurred on February 14, 2023, happened in poor visibility conditions. At the time of the incident, the plane had two pilots, four crew members, and 70 passengers on board. The investigation is ongoing, and no further details have been released at this time.

This incident highlights the potential dangers of runway collisions, as a similar incident in November 2022 resulted in two firefighters losing their lives. In that incident, a plane from the Chilean airline Latam Air collided with a fire engine while taking off from Lima airport. The pilot was able to abort the takeoff, but the plane caught fire.

The Sust is urging all airports to review their safety procedures to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. The investigation is expected to take several months, and the findings will be made public once they are available.