A 23-year-old flight attendant for Swiss International Airlines who tragically passed away a week after an Airbus A220 made an emergency landing when smoke filled the cabin died from a lack of oxygen to the brain, an autopsy has revealed.
The public prosecutor’s office in Graz, Austria, has confirmed that the preliminary cause of death of the unnamed victim was hypoxic brain damage and cerebral edema, following inquiries from various Swiss media outlets.
The crew member was also suffering from purulent bronchitis and an enlarged heart at the time of his death, although it is not clear what role, if any, these conditions had in his death.
Pathologists will now conduct chemical and histological examinations in an attempt to determine precisely what caused the victim’s death following the diversion of flight LX1885 from Bucharest on December 23, which ended up making an emergency landing in Graz.
It may take several weeks for these results to come back.
Investigators are looking into whether a special ‘smoke hood’ that the flight attendant put on shortly before collapsing may have contributed to his death. A spokesperson for SWISS has refused to comment on speculation that the hood, which is also known as ‘Personal Breathing Equipment’ or PBE, may have played a role in his tragic passing.
In a statement, SWISS said it was “ruling nothing out” and that its own specialists were “working flat out to compile all the relevant facts and findings.”
What is a ‘smoke hood’?
A smoke hood is properly known as ‘protective breathing equipment’ or PBE (also sometimes known as ‘personal breathing equipment’). They are used by airlines worldwide as an essential piece of emergency kit that allows crew members to fight a fire or continue working in a smoke or fumed-filled environment.
The air-tight hoods are fitted with a small cylinder that provides chemically generated oxygen to the wearer. Most smoke hoods provide oxygen for around 15 minutes – just enough time for a crew member to fight a fire while the pilots make an emergency landing.
In 2023, SWISS announced that it was urgently replacing more than 1,000 smoke hoods after discovering that some had ‘partially limited’ functionality and did not work as expected. SWISS refused to confirm whether there was any link between these issues and the death of the flight attendant.
The flight attendant collapsed shortly after putting on the PBE – an airtight hood that provides chemically generated oxygen to the wearer so that they can work in a smoke-filled environment.
Initial reports suggest that the victim had already lost consciousness by the time the plane landed in Graz and had to be airlifted to a hospital for emergency treatment. After a week fighting for his life on life support, the crew member tragically died with his family by his bedside.
Investigators are also examining an issue with the Pratt & Whitney engines that power the airline’s fleet of Airbus A220s. The airline believes that an unprecedented issue caused smoke to fill the cabin, resulting in three other crew members and 10 passengers being injured.
