The Swiss air traffic control company SkyGuide has reportedly admitted full responsibility for a mid-air collision that killed some 71 people in 2002.
As reported, the tragedy happened when a Russian airliner and a cargo plane collided over Germany; most of those killed were Russian schoolchildren. The controller on duty when the collision took place was fatally stabbed earlier this year in what is generally though to have been a revenge attack.
Now, the BBC News website reports, after German investigators revealed that the pilots had just 43 seconds to avoid collision, SkyGuide has admitted responsibility.
It said: “SkyGuide assumed full responsibility for its errors and asks relatives of the 71 victims for forgiveness. Lessons have been learned from this tragedy and we are doing our best to make sure that it does not happen again.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
