Cabin crew member dies after ‘smoke-filled’ passenger plane makes emergency landing in Switzerland

A cabin crew member has died after a passenger plane had to make an emergency landing in Switzerland.

Thick clouds of smoke filled the plane when it experienced an engine problem during a flight from Bucharest, Romania, to Zurich, Switzerland.

The Airbus A220-300 aircraft, with 74 passengers and five crew members on board, made an unplanned emergency landing in Graz, Austria, on December 23.

Passengers and crew members were quickly evacuated from the aircraft and twelve people were treated urgently at the scene.

One worker was airlifted to hospital and taken to intensive care, and a second cabin crew member was also taken to hospital.

One of the cabin crew members on board the plane, described as a ‘young man’, has now died a week later.

A spokesperson for Swiss International Air Lines said: “It is with the deepest sadness and regret that we have to report that our young colleague passed away in hospital in Graz on Monday.”

CEO Jens Fehlinger added: “We are all deeply shocked by the death of our beloved colleague.

Footage shows heavy smoke engulfing the cabin of the Swiss Airlines flight from Bucharest, Romania, to Zurich, Switzerland

Local police said 12 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident. One crew member has now died (photo: an ambulance on the tarmac after the plane had made an emergency landing)

‘The news leaves us deeply saddened and stunned. Our thoughts are with the young man’s family members, whose pain must be boundless.

“I offer them my sincere condolences on behalf of all of us at Swiss.”

Swiss said in a statement that “out of respect for loved ones, we will not provide detailed information about our employee or the cause of death.”

Initial investigations into the incident revealed that the aircraft had a technical defect in one of the engines.

This caused the cabin and cockpit to fill with smoke as crew and passengers rushed to safety.

Austrian prosecutors have also launched an investigation into possible personal injury caused by negligence.

Switzerland’s chief operating officer Oliver Buchhofer said: ‘This is the saddest day for all of us.

“The loss of our colleague and fellow member of our Swiss team leaves me desperate and devastated.”

But he assured that the airline would “consult with the relevant authorities to determine the causes.”

According to the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), the aircraft and engine manufacturers have both been informed.

Following the incident last week, a witness told the Swiss newspaper 20 minutes that the flight attendant was unconscious at the time of the evacuation and had to be resuscitated by other crew members.

Another passenger said an explosion caused smoke in the cabin.

‘There was a strange noise, a lot of smoke and people couldn’t breathe. I didn’t know what had happened,” the woman told the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung.

She said she was sleeping when the “strange noise” woke her up and she smelled smoke. ‘I panicked, I didn’t know what was going on. I tried to calm myself down,” she added.

The company confirmed the emergency landing in a statement last week, saying: ‘SWISS flight LX1885 from Bucharest to Zurich made an emergency landing in Graz due to smoke. All 74 passengers and 5 crew members have been evacuated, with 17 requiring medical attention.

It added that a special flight would depart at 9.45am on Tuesday to return passengers to Zurich before Christmas Day.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.