Swiss Info

Swiss time 17:23, Monday 14.08.2000

SAirGroup flights dogged by new incidents

In two separate incidents on Saturday, passengers travelling in aircraft owned by the SAirGroup had a nasty surprise.

A Swissair MD-11 aircraft was forced to break-off its voyage from Johannesburg to Zurich and return to its South African starting point. A spokesman from Swissair said that an engine failure had prompted the pilots to take the decision.

The spokesman added that a faulty tyre, which had lodged itself inside the engine shortly after take-off, had caused the problem with one of the engines.

One hour into the flight, the plane returned to Johannesburg airport, where the 229 passengers were rebooked onto alternative flights.

Meanwhile, in Switzerland, a bus collided with a Crossair plane which was waiting to take off from Basel airport. The bus was carrying the passengers to the Embraer 145 aircraft bound for Manchester, when it struck one of its wings.

Although only minor damage was caused, the flight was cancelled and passengers were offered alternative flights.

swissinfo with agencies

12.08.2000 20:49

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), August 15, 2000