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Swiss flight attendant died due to 'severe lack of oxygen' after the plane filled with smoke

A Swiss Airbus A220-300 passenger aircraft flies over the houses of Myrtle Avenue before landing at London Heathrow LHR airport.
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Gene Medi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

  • A Swiss International Air Lines flight made an emergency landing last month.
  • The Airbus A220's cabin was filled with smoke after encountering an engine problem.
  • An autopsy said a flight attendant died due to hypoxic brain damage, Blick reported.

A 23-year-old Swiss International Air Lines flight attendant died due to a "severe lack of oxygen to the brain," according to an autopsy reported by Blick, Switzerland's largest newspaper.

It comes after an incident on December 23, when Swiss Flight 1885 encountered engine problems, and the cabin was filled with smoke.

The Airbus A220 was flying from Bucharest, Romania, to Zurich when it made an emergency landing in Graz, Austria.

All 74 passengers and five crew members were evacuated, 17 of whom required medical attention, the airline said.

A week later, Swiss announced that one of the flight's cabin crew members died in the hospital in Graz.

"We are devastated at our dear colleague's death," said CEO Jens Fehlinger. "His loss has left us all in the deepest shock and grief. Our thoughts are with his family, whose pain we cannot imagine."

Blick reported that the public prosecutor's office in Graz has launched an investigation into the flight attendant's death.

A spokesperson told the newspaper that a Friday autopsy found the provisional cause of death to be hypoxic brain damage and cerebral edema, meaning brain swelling.

"The brain was massively damaged by a severe lack of oxygen, and the young flight attendant died of it in the intensive care unit," the spokesperson told Blick.

"We are also looking into the role played by the respiratory mask that the flight attendant was wearing," he added.

The Graz public prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.

Swiss said the investigation's initial findings point to a problem in one of the plane's Pratt & Whitney engines.

"We have no indication that the safety of the aircraft type is in question," it added.

Read the original article on Business Insider

A flight attendant has died after the cabin of the plane he was working on filled with smoke

A Swiss International Air Lines plane in flight.
The flight attendant was airlifted to a hospital in Graz, Austria, where he later died.

Robert Smith/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

  • A flight attendant working for Swiss Air has died after a plane's cabin filled with smoke mid-flight.
  • On December 23, a flight from Bucharest to Zurich diverted due to engine issues and smoke.
  • The staff member, who hasn't been named, died around a week after being taken to hospital.

A young Swiss International Air Lines flight attendant died after smoke started to fill the cabin and cockpit.

The flight โ€” operating from Bucharest in Romania to Switzerland's Zurich on December 23 โ€” made an emergency diversion to Graz in southern Austria after engine problems led smoke to spread through the plane, according to a press release by the airline.

The member of staff, who has not been named publicly, was airlifted to a hospital in Graz, where he was put into intensive care. He died on Monday, December 30.

"We are devastated at our dear colleague's death," Swiss CEO Jens Fehlinger said in a statement.

"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," Oliver Buchhofer, the airline's chief operating officer added.

"We have many questions, and we want them answered," he added.

All 74 passengers on board the Airbus A220 were evacuated, and twelve received medical attention. All five crew members were placed under medical care.

"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," the airline said in a statement about the investigations into the incident.

The focus of the investigation is on the mechanical parts of the aircraft โ€” like the engine โ€” and the protective breathing equipment available to the cabin crew.

SWISS announced it was working with the relevant authorities, the engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, and the aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

"The initial findings point to a technical problem in one of the engines," it said in the press release, but the cause of the smoke has not yet been conclusively determined.

A special flight from Graz to Zurich was organized on the morning of Christmas Eve to get passengers to their destination.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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