Swissair Flight 330
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Swissair Flight SR330 was a regularly scheduled flight from Zürich International Airport in Kloten, Switzerland to Tel Aviv, Israel.
On February 21, 1970, HB-ICD[1] a Convair CV-990 Coronado jet named “Baselland” was flying on the route with 38 passengers and nine crew members. A bomb detonated in the aft cargo compartment of the aircraft about nine 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 Zürich 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 Zürich, Switzerland, due to the loss of electrical power. All aboard the aircraft were killed.
The PFLP group of George Habash claimed responsibility for the bombing. A barometric triggered IED had been used.
The crash site is approximately 900 metres from a Swiss nuclear research reactor (Paul-Scherrer-Institut). The nuclear power plant Beznau, which opened in 1969, is only about two 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.
