page_title: 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Tafel mit den Namen der Opfer English: Memorial plaque for the victims of the airplane crash at Überlingen, Germany, on 2 July 2002. The inscription translates as follows: "In the night between 1 July and 2 July 2002, two aircraft collided in the airspace near Überlingen. An airplane coming from Ufa, Bashkortostan [Russia] crashed near Brachenreute, while the other aircraft coming from Italy fell to the ground some 15 km further near Taisersdorf. 71 persons including 49 children and youths died in this tragic accident. Miraculously, no person and not a thing on the ground suffered considerable damage. 'In the midst of our lives we are surrounded by death'."
context_page_description: On the night of 1 July 2002, Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet, and DHL Flight 611, a Boeing 757 cargo jet, collided in mid-air over Überlingen, a southern German town on Lake Constance, near the Swiss border. All 69 passengers and crew aboard the Tupolev and both crew members of the Boeing were killed.
  The official investigation by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation identified as the main cause of the collision a number of shortcomings on the part of the Swiss Air Traffic Controller service in charge of the sector involved as well as ambiguities in the procedures regarding the use of Traffic Collision Avoidance System, the on-board aircraft collision avoidance system.
  A year and a half after the crash, on 24 February 2004, Peter Nielsen, the air traffic controller on duty at the time of the collision, was murdered in an apparent act of revenge by Vitaly Kaloyev, a Russian citizen who had lost his wife and two children in the accident.
context_section_description: Nielsen needed medical attention due to traumatic stress caused by the accident. At Skyguide, his former colleagues maintained a vase with a white rose over Nielsen's former workstation. Skyguide, after initially having blamed the Russian pilot for the accident, accepted full responsibility and asked relatives of the victims for forgiveness.
  According to news reports, Skyguide did pay out compensations to the families of the dead children. Under international aviation laws, the compensation amount was about CHF 30,000 ($34,087) to CHF 36,000. The Swiss Federal Court turned down appeals from some relatives for higher compensation in 2011.
  On 27 July 2006, a court in Konstanz decided that the Federal Republic of Germany should pay compensation to Bashkirian Airlines. The court found that Germany was legally responsible for the actions of Skyguide. The government appealed the ruling, but in late 2013 Bashkirian Airlines and the Federal Republic of Germany reached a tacit agreement, ending the court case before a decision on the legal issues was reached.
  In another case before the court in Konstanz, Skyguide's liability insurance is suing Bashkirian Airlines for 2.5 million euro in damages. The case was opened in March 2008; the legal questions are expected to be difficult, as the airline has filed for bankruptcy under Russian law.
  A criminal investigation of Skyguide began in May 2004. On 7 August 2006, a Swiss prosecutor filed manslaughter charges against eight employees of Skyguide. The prosecutor called for prison terms of up to 15 months if found guilty. The verdict was announced in September 2007. Three of the four managers convicted were given suspended prison terms and the fourth was ordered to pay a fine. Another four Skyguide employees were cleared of any wrongdoing.
caption: A memorial plaque
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