flyboy2
30th Oct 2005, 12:58
Russian tells of air crash grief that led to killing
26 October 2005 10:34
A grief-crazed Russian architect who lost his wife and two children in Germany's worst ever aviation disaster tracked down the air traffic controller he blamed for the crash, and then stabbed him to death, a court heard on Tuesday.
In his first account of the killing, Vitaly Kaloyev said that he travelled to Zurich where the 36-year-old controller lived with his wife and children. The controller, Peter Nielsen, had been on duty when a DHL cargo plane and a Russian passenger jet collided in Swiss-controlled airspace over southern Germany in July 2002, killing Kaloyev's entire family.
On Tuesday Kaloyev (48) said that after turning up at Nielsen's home he had tried to show the controller photos of his dead wife Svetlana, 10-year-old son Konstantin and four-year-old daughter Diana. The controller responded "coldly", Kaloyev said. He then stabbed him with a knife.
"I went to Nielsen as a father who loves his children, so he could see the photos of my dead children and next to them his kids, who were alive," Kaloyev told the packed courtroom in Zurich.
"Everyone can make mistakes. But these are my children," he said. Looking gaunt but clean-shaven, Kaloyev told the court that since the death of his children his life had been "empty".
Speaking in Russian, he said: "I have no idea how to live."
The trial came after the Russian charter aircraft in which Kaloyev's family was travelling ploughed into a cargo plane in the night sky above Germany. Sixty-nine Russian schoolchildren died in the mid-air collision above the village of Überlingen in southern Germany, an area controlled by air traffic authorities in Zurich. Two DHL pilots also perished. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Kaloyev said he went to the crash site. He then confronted Alan Rossier, the head of Skyguide, the private company that employed Nielsen. Rossier refused to apologise, Kaloyev said.
In July 2003, at a memorial service for the victims in Zurich, Kaloyev went into town and bought a pocketknife, the court was told. His attempts later that year to meet officials from Skyguide were repeatedly rebuffed, he said. Kaloyev then paid a Russian detective to find out Nielsen's address. On February 24 last year he confronted Nielsen at his home in Kloten, a suburb near Zurich airport. Kaloyev stabbed the unconscious Nielsen 20 times -- slashing him across the face and back, it was alleged. His wife heard the attack -- and fled with her children. Kaloyev does not deny the killing.
But he insists it was not premeditated and says he can no longer recall the incident. The prosecution insists the killing was premeditated.
The trial has provoked strong emotions in the Russian Federation, especially in Bashkiria and Northern Ossetia, where most of the crash victims including Kaloyev's family come from. Officials from North Ossetia attended Tuesday's trial, including the state's president. Relatives of the dead passengers demonstrated in front of the Swiss embassy in Moscow to express their solidarity with Kaloyev yesterday. There were also demonstrations in Kaloyev's native Vladikavkaz.
"All the republic understands the grave accusations against him, but we believe that Swiss justice will be fair," said Tamouraz Masourov shortly before leaving Moscow.
Nielsen had been alerted to the intersecting flight paths just 44 seconds before the two aircraft collided. He told the pilot of the Russian Tupolev to descend to avoid a collision, even though early-warning instruments aboard the plane had told the pilots to climb.
The DHL Boeing 757's automatic anti-collision system also instructed the pilots to descend to the same level, where the Boeing's tail fin sliced open the passenger jet. Both aircraft disappeared from radar screens 15 seconds later.
The air crash is still being investigated. Eight Skyguide employees have so far been indicted for manslaughter.
Kaloyev was arrested a day after the killing at his Zurich hotel. Kaloyev's lawyer, Markus Hug, on Tuesday said that the defence will push for a manslaughter verdict, which carries a sentence of between one and 10 years. "Kaloyev accepts that he killed [the controller]," said Hug. "But we will argue that he was not in a fit state of mind at the time."
Swiss prosecutors urged the court to convict Kaloyev of remeditated killing and sentence him to 12 years' imprisonment.
A verdict is expected on Wednesday afternoon. - Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
26 October 2005 10:34
A grief-crazed Russian architect who lost his wife and two children in Germany's worst ever aviation disaster tracked down the air traffic controller he blamed for the crash, and then stabbed him to death, a court heard on Tuesday.
In his first account of the killing, Vitaly Kaloyev said that he travelled to Zurich where the 36-year-old controller lived with his wife and children. The controller, Peter Nielsen, had been on duty when a DHL cargo plane and a Russian passenger jet collided in Swiss-controlled airspace over southern Germany in July 2002, killing Kaloyev's entire family.
On Tuesday Kaloyev (48) said that after turning up at Nielsen's home he had tried to show the controller photos of his dead wife Svetlana, 10-year-old son Konstantin and four-year-old daughter Diana. The controller responded "coldly", Kaloyev said. He then stabbed him with a knife.
"I went to Nielsen as a father who loves his children, so he could see the photos of my dead children and next to them his kids, who were alive," Kaloyev told the packed courtroom in Zurich.
"Everyone can make mistakes. But these are my children," he said. Looking gaunt but clean-shaven, Kaloyev told the court that since the death of his children his life had been "empty".
Speaking in Russian, he said: "I have no idea how to live."
The trial came after the Russian charter aircraft in which Kaloyev's family was travelling ploughed into a cargo plane in the night sky above Germany. Sixty-nine Russian schoolchildren died in the mid-air collision above the village of Überlingen in southern Germany, an area controlled by air traffic authorities in Zurich. Two DHL pilots also perished. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Kaloyev said he went to the crash site. He then confronted Alan Rossier, the head of Skyguide, the private company that employed Nielsen. Rossier refused to apologise, Kaloyev said.
In July 2003, at a memorial service for the victims in Zurich, Kaloyev went into town and bought a pocketknife, the court was told. His attempts later that year to meet officials from Skyguide were repeatedly rebuffed, he said. Kaloyev then paid a Russian detective to find out Nielsen's address. On February 24 last year he confronted Nielsen at his home in Kloten, a suburb near Zurich airport. Kaloyev stabbed the unconscious Nielsen 20 times -- slashing him across the face and back, it was alleged. His wife heard the attack -- and fled with her children. Kaloyev does not deny the killing.
But he insists it was not premeditated and says he can no longer recall the incident. The prosecution insists the killing was premeditated.
The trial has provoked strong emotions in the Russian Federation, especially in Bashkiria and Northern Ossetia, where most of the crash victims including Kaloyev's family come from. Officials from North Ossetia attended Tuesday's trial, including the state's president. Relatives of the dead passengers demonstrated in front of the Swiss embassy in Moscow to express their solidarity with Kaloyev yesterday. There were also demonstrations in Kaloyev's native Vladikavkaz.
"All the republic understands the grave accusations against him, but we believe that Swiss justice will be fair," said Tamouraz Masourov shortly before leaving Moscow.
Nielsen had been alerted to the intersecting flight paths just 44 seconds before the two aircraft collided. He told the pilot of the Russian Tupolev to descend to avoid a collision, even though early-warning instruments aboard the plane had told the pilots to climb.
The DHL Boeing 757's automatic anti-collision system also instructed the pilots to descend to the same level, where the Boeing's tail fin sliced open the passenger jet. Both aircraft disappeared from radar screens 15 seconds later.
The air crash is still being investigated. Eight Skyguide employees have so far been indicted for manslaughter.
Kaloyev was arrested a day after the killing at his Zurich hotel. Kaloyev's lawyer, Markus Hug, on Tuesday said that the defence will push for a manslaughter verdict, which carries a sentence of between one and 10 years. "Kaloyev accepts that he killed [the controller]," said Hug. "But we will argue that he was not in a fit state of mind at the time."
Swiss prosecutors urged the court to convict Kaloyev of remeditated killing and sentence him to 12 years' imprisonment.
A verdict is expected on Wednesday afternoon. - Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005