On 7 October 1979, a

Swissair Swissair AG/ S.A. (German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne) was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002. It was formed from a merger between Bal ...

DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in July ...

crashed while attempting to land at Athens-Ellinikon International Airport in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece. Of the 154 passengers and crew on board, 14 were killed in the accident.

The crash

Swissair Flight 316 was an international scheduled passenger service from Zurich, Switzerland to Peking, China (now Beijing) via Geneva, Athens, and Bombay (now Mumbai). The aircraft, named ''Uri'', was piloted by Captain Fritz Schmutz and First Officer Martin Deuringer. Flight 316 touched down on runway 15L at a speed of . The aircraft decelerated but overran the runway and came to rest on a public road. The left wing and tail separated, and fire broke out. Fourteen of the 142 passengers on board died. Among the dead were British, German, and French citizens. Of the passengers on board, 100 were doctors on their way to a medical convention in China. One of Flight 316's survivors was

Hans Morgenthau Hans Joachim Morgenthau (February 17, 1904 – July 19, 1980) was a German-American jurist and political scientist who was one of the major 20th-century figures in the study of international relations. Morgenthau's works belong to the tradition o ...

, a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and expert in

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

.Plutonium missing
St. Joseph, Missouri: ''St. Joseph Gazette'' (UPI). 9 October 1979, p. 2A.

Aftermath

After the crash it was learned that the aircraft was transporting over of

radioactive isotopes A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferr ...

and a small amount of

plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...

. The plutonium was in the luggage of one of the doctors on board, and was briefly missing in the aftermath of the crash, although it was quickly found. Authorities had firemen and other rescue workers checked for radiation exposure.Swissair carried isotopes
Bangor, Maine: ''Bangor Daily News'' (UPI). 9 October 1979, p. 8. The crash destroyed over $2 million worth of

industrial diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

bound for

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. Most of the uncut diamonds were found by police, but they were destroyed by the crash's intense heat. Two days after the crash of Flight 316, Greek authorities charged pilot Fritz Schmutz with

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

plus other charges. At a trial in 1983, Schmutz, along with co-pilot Deuringer, were found guilty of multiple charges including manslaughter with negligence, causing multiple bodily injury, and obstructing air traffic, and were sentenced to five and two and a half years in prison respectively. Schmutz and Deuringer were set free on bail while they appealed their sentences. A year after their sentencing, the court ruled Schmutz and Deuringer could substitute fines in place of jail time. Neither pilot had flown since the accident, but they were employed by Swissair.Pilots' sentences reduced
Nashua, New Hampshire: ''Nashua Telegraph'' (AP). 26 September 1984, p. 3.

Cause

The accident investigation determined the causes of the accident were that the crew touched down too far down the runway, at too high a speed, following a non-stabilised approach, and that they failed to properly utilise the aircraft's brake and

reverse thrust Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's thrust for it to act against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration. Thrust reverser systems are featured on many jet aircraft to ...

systems, which resulted in their being unable to stop the aircraft within the available runway and overrun distance. One member of the Operations team of the Accident Investigation Committee had a different opinion from the rest of the Committee regarding the cause of the accident, stating that he believed the crew failed to realise the touchdown speed and distance, failed to follow the company's poor-braking-action landing technique, and failed to properly utilise the aircraft's brake and reverse thrust systems.Aircraft accident: McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 HB-IDE Athens-Ellinikon International Airport
Aviation Safety Network,

Flight Safety Foundation The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is an independent, nonprofit, international organization concerning research, education, advocacy, and communications in the field of aviation safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals from all sectors ...

References

External links

* {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1979 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1979 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Airliner accidents and incidents involving runway overruns Aviation accidents and incidents in Greece Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-8 316 1979 in Greece October 1979 events in Europe