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11/24/2001
ZURICH, Switzerland — A Crossair airliner carrying 32 people crashed Saturday evening on its approach to Zurich Airport, officials said. There were reports of people injured, killed and of survivors.
On board were 27 passengers and five crew members, said Manfred Winkler, spokesman for Crossair, a subsidiary of the financially troubled Swissair Group.
The flight from Berlin's Tegel airport to Zurich crashed as it was trying to land, said airport spokesman Christof Diener. A local Zurich radio station reported the plane went down in woods near the airport.
The Jumbolino plane crashed just after 10 p.m., said Zurich police spokesman Karl Steiner. He said an unknown number of people were killed or injured. Swiss radio quoted witnesses saying that there were survivors.
Steiner said there was snow and rain at the time of crash, but that it was too early to speculate on what caused it.
A Jumbolino, also known as an Avro RJ, is a small, four-engine jetliner that Crossair flies in two versions, one with 82 passenger seats and the other with 97.
Crossair flies routes between Swiss cities and to other destinations in Europe. It is taking over parts of the Swissair operations in a complicated, government-financed bailout that is meant to be completed next spring.