Swissair Flight 330 - Definition and Overview

Swissair Flight SR330 was a regularly scheduled flight from Zurich International Airport in Kloten, Switzerland to Tel Aviv, Israel.

On February 21, 1970, HB-ICD [1] (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/108667/M/) a Convair CV-990 Coronado jet named “Basel Land” was flying on the route with 38 passengers and 9 crew. A bomb detonated in the aft cargo compartment of the aircraft about 9 minutes after take-off climb-out on southerly course approximately at 12:15 UTC in the area of Lucerne north of the Gotthard-Pass. The crew tried to turn around and attempt an emergency landing at Zurich but had difficulty seeing the instruments due to smoke in the cockpit. The aircraft deviated more and more to the west and crashed a short time later in a wooded area at Würenlingen near Zurich, Switzerland, due to the loss of electrical power. All aboard the aircraft were killed.

The PFLP group of Georges Habash took over the responsibility for the bombing by using a barometric triggerd IED.

A noteworthy fact is that the crash site isn't only near a township but also only approx. 900 metres from a Swiss nuclear research reactor (Paul-Scherrer-Institut) and the nuclear power plant Beznau - which was opened 1969 - is only about 2 kilometres from the crash site.

On the same day, a bomb exploded aboard a Vienna-bound Caravelle after takeoff from Frankfurt. The Caravelle landed safely.