December 23, a Swiss flight with 74 passengers and five crew members on board, bound for Zurich from Bucharest, was forced to make an emergency landing in Graz after engine trouble and smoke in the cabin.
The Airbus A220-300 landed safely, but the incident took a tragic turn for a young flight attendant, who suffered a severe oxygen deficiency in the brain and died a week later in a Graz hospital.
An autopsy revealed the young man had a severe bronchitis and an enlarged heart, both uncommon for his age, which may have exacerbated the oxygen deficiency that led to irreversible brain damage.
Further chemical and histological tests are underway to clarify the exact causes, said a spokesperson for the state prosecutor’s office.
Investigations are focusing on the breathing masks worn by the crew during the incident, as Swiss had previously found that some of the Protective Breathing Equipment (PBE) was faulty and needed to be replaced. Due to the large number of masks in the Swiss fleet, the replacement was delayed.
The type of mask worn by the deceased flight attendant and whether it functioned properly are still unclear. A Swiss spokesperson said the masks are internationally certified and used by many airlines.
Despite this, the airline had conducted special training for the crew in April to improve their handling of the equipment.
As the medical circumstances of the fatal incident are being investigated, experts are also working to clarify the technical issues with the affected Airbus A220.
Initial internal analyses by Swiss suggest an “unknown error pattern” in the engine that failed suddenly and unexpectedly. The faulty engine has been removed and sent to the US for analysis, and flight recorders and voice recorders will also be examined.
The results of the technical report, which is expected to provide key insights into the cause of the incident, are expected in the coming weeks. Until then, the question remains as to whether the tragic death of the flight attendant could have been prevented – through better equipment, faster response, or a more robust health check.
The emergency landing in Graz has been the most significant incident in the 23-year history of Swiss, a airline that has positioned itself as a symbol of safety and reliability. The incident highlights how thin the line is between safety and catastrophe in the aviation industry.