was enroute at FL350 about 15nm northeast of Zurich (Switzerland) when the crew reported smoke on the flight deck and requested to divert to Zurich with CATIII ILS available for runway 16.
the aircraft landed safely about 24 minutes after leaving FL350,
Not any criticism intended, just a discussion point. It is one that has been debated before, but now that this topic is current, why not again. Just asking opinions & options. It centres around "land at nearest suitable".
Much will also depend on familiarity. I, for one, would choose a familiar airfield over an unknown one, if there was an equal choice. FL350 overhead and 24 minutes to land. That suggests lots of vectors to descend within the area. MUC & FRA are both about 320km in flat-ish terrain, but perhaps moving further away as the crew decide what is best. GVA & MXP offer the same surrounding terrain as Zurich & are closer than FRA/MUC. So I suppose Zurich is the closest, just.
I wonder what guys prefer; a long straight glide DCT TO, or a radar vectored 'round the houses' descent where the descent planning is handed over to ATC more than in the SA focus of the crew. The difference being 5-10 mins, perhaps, and familiarity a factor, but then, as per Swiss Air in Halifax, 5 mins can The Difference.
I remember this was discussed a while ago with a London based carrier who had a problem over N.France then continued to planned London rather than a death defying spiral into an unplanned Paris.