Credit: Luxair
Sunday 6 November 2022 marked the 20th anniversary of the Luxair Flight 9642 crash - the deadliest aircraft accident in Luxembourg's history.
On 6 November 2002, the aircraft operating Luxair Flight 9642 - a Fokker 50 registered "LX- LGB" - lost control and crashed into a field in Niederanven during an attempted landing. There were only two survivors out of the nineteen passengers and three crew members on board the aeroplane: the pilot and one passenger. The accepted cause of the deadly crash was pilot error.
Having departed from Berlin Tempelhof Airport in Germany at around 07:40, the aircraft was scheduled to land at Luxembourg Findel Airport at 10:15 that morning. However, during its approach to the Grand Duchy, heavy fogs affected visibility. Rather than delay the landing, the aircraft continued its descent even though disagreement between the pilot and co-pilot led to a failure to conduct an approach briefing. The aircraft ultimately crashed in a field between Niederanven and Roodt-sur-Syre, 700 metres away from the runway. A lengthy investigation by Luxembourg's Administration for Technical Investigations (AET) concluded that the crash was caused by pilot error; ten years after the accident, in March 2012, the surviving pilot received a suspended sentence of 42 months in prison. Three mechanics also received suspended sentences.
On Sunday 6 November 2022, 20 years after this fatal accident, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility and Public Works, François Bausch, and the Board of Directors and the Management of Luxair, invited the families, friends and colleagues of the victims to a remembrance ceremony on the site of the memorial monument. Luxembourg's Minister for Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region, Corinne Cahen, and the Mayor of Niederanven, Raymond Weydert, and the municipality's aldermen were also present.
"It is important, even 20 years after the terrible accident, to remember those who died in such a tragic way. My thoughts are with their families, friends and acquaintances", stated Minister Bausch.
"I would like to state again that the Board of Directors, the Management and the employees of Luxair, we all still, today, share the sorrow and the pain of each person who has lost a member of his family, a parent, a husband, a wife, a friend or a faithful colleague. Our thoughts are with them", said Luxair CEO Gilles Feith. "It was a tragic accident that marked Luxair's history forever. This accident forced Luxair to question its safety rules and to take additional precautions so that the circumstances of this event cannot happen again".
Over the past 20 years, Luxair has been working to systematically secure its operations by implementing a more comprehensive and completely revised safety management system, which, among others, ensures the permanent exchange of communication with the maintenance of its aircraft and flight operations.
Following the detailed analyses of the various accidents that have occurred around the world and the lessons learned by airlines, aviation safety in general, has continuously improved in recent years, noted Luxair.
