The Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne, better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels Airport. After its bankruptcy in 2001, SN Brussels Airlines was formed through a takeover of former subsidiary Delta Air Transport and took over part of Sabena's assets in February 2002. SN Brussels Airlines merged with Virgin Express in 2007 to form Brussels Airlines. The airline's corporate headquarters were located in the Sabena House on the grounds of Brussels Airport in Zaventem.
Swissair was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002.
Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport was a Swiss regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland.
The Convair 880 was an American narrow-body jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics. It was designed to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 by being smaller but faster, a niche that failed to create demand. When it was first introduced, some in aviation circles claimed that at 615 mph (990 km/h), it was the fastest jet transport in the world. Only 65 Convair 880s were produced over the lifetime of the production run from 1959 to 1962, and General Dynamics eventually withdrew from the airliner market after considering the 880 project a failure. The Convair 990 Coronado was a stretched and faster variant of the 880.
Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zürich, Switzerland's largest city, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest of the country. The airport is located 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of central Zürich, in the municipalities of Kloten, Rümlang, Oberglatt, Winkel, and Opfikon, all of which are within the canton of Zürich.
The Convair 990 Coronado was an American narrow-body four-engined jet airliner produced between 1961 and 1963 by the Convair division of American company General Dynamics. It was a stretched version of its earlier Convair 880 produced in response to a request from American Airlines: the 990 was lengthened by 10 ft (3.0 m), which increased the number of passengers from between 88 and 110 in the 880 to between 96 and 121. This was still fewer passengers than the contemporary Boeing 707 or Douglas DC-8, although the 990 was 25–35 mph (40–56 km/h) faster than either in cruise.
Swissair Flight 111 (SR111/SWR111) was a scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States, to Cointrin Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. The flight was also a codeshare flight with Delta Air Lines. On 2 September 1998, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 performing this flight, registration HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax Stanfield International Airport at the entrance to St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia. The crash site was 8 kilometres from shore, roughly equidistant from the small fishing and tourist communities of Peggy's Cove and Bayswater. All 229 passengers and crew on board the MD-11 were killed, making the crash the deadliest accident in the history of Swissair and the deadliest accident involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. It is also the second-deadliest aviation accident to occur in Canada, behind Arrow Air Flight 1285R.
On 1 July 2002, BALBashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet, and DHL International Aviation ME Flight 611, a Boeing 757 cargo jet, collided in mid-air over Überlingen, a southern German town on Lake Constance, near the Swiss border. All of the passengers and crew aboard both planes were killed, resulting in a total death toll of 71.
In September 1970, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four airliners bound for New York City and one for London. Three aircraft were forced to land at Dawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip near Zarqa, Jordan, formerly Royal Air Force Station Zarqa, which then became PFLP's "Revolutionary Airport". By the end of the incident, one hijacker had been killed and one injury reported. This was the second instance of mass aircraft hijacking, after an escape from communist Czechoslovakia in 1950.
Swissair Flight 306, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III, named Schaffhausen, was a scheduled international flight from Zürich to Rome, via Geneva. It crashed near Dürrenäsch, Aargau, on 4 September 1963, shortly after take-off, killing all 80 people on board.
Spantax S.A. was a Spanish leisure airline headquartered in Madrid that operated from 6 October 1959 to 29 March 1988. Spantax was one of the first Spanish airlines to operate tourist charter flights between European and North American cities and popular Spanish holiday destinations and was considered a major force in developing 20th-century mass tourism in Spain. Its popularity and image faded from the 1970s onward when a series of crashes and incidents revealed safety deficits, which, combined with rising fuel costs and increasing competition, resulted in the company facing severe financial difficulties that led to its demise in 1988.
Belair, legally Belair Airlines AG, was a Swiss charter airline headquartered in Glattbrugg operating out of Zürich Airport and EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. It was a subsidiary of Air Berlin and operated under the Air Berlin brand name until 31 March 2017. During the 2017 summer season, it flew on behalf of its sister company Niki and was shuttered by then-bankrupt Air Berlin on 28 October 2017.
Würenlingen is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
Alitalia Flight 404 (AZ404/AZA404) was an international passenger flight scheduled to fly from Linate Airport in Milan, Italy, to Zürich Airport in Zürich, Switzerland, which crashed on 14 November 1990. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, operated by Alitalia, crashed into the woodlands of Weiach as it approached Zurich Airport, killing all 46 people on board.
On 19 June 1954 a Swissair Convair CV-240 ditched off Folkestone, Kent when it ran out of fuel while crossing the English Channel. All on board survived the ditching, but three people who could not swim drowned. There were no lifejackets or water safety equipment on board, as regulations did not require them on short flights over water.
Dübendorf Military Airport was a military airfield of the Swiss Air Force northeast of Dübendorf in Switzerland, located east of Zürich.
The 1973 Nantes mid-air collision occurred when two airliners travelling to London Heathrow airport hit each other over Nantes, France, on 5 March 1973. They were an Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-9 flying from Palma de Mallorca to London and a Spantax Convair 990 from Madrid to London. All 68 people on board the DC-9 were killed. The CV-990 was able to make a successful emergency landing at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base.
On December 3, 1972, a Convair CV-990 Coronado charter flight operated by Spantax from Tenerife to Munich with 148 passengers and 7 crew crashed while taking off from Tenerife-Norte Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, killing all 155 passengers and crew onboard. Many of the passengers were West German tourists heading home.
The 2000 Marsa Brega Short 360 crash occurred on 13 January 2000 when a Swiss-registered Short 360 leased by Avisto ditched into the sea near Marsa Brega in Libya. The aircraft was chartered by Sirte Oil Company to transport oil workers to the city. It was carrying 41 people. Most of the passengers were foreigners. As both engines failed in mid-flight, the crew chose to ditch the aircraft. A total of 21 people died in the crash.
China Airlines Flight 825 was a scheduled China Airlines passenger flight from Taipei's Songshan Airport to Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong. On 20 November 1971, a Sud Aviation SE-210 operating this route disintegrated in midair over the Penghu islands, killing all 25 onboard.
