On 21 February 1970 HB-ICD a Convair CV-990 Coronado jet named “Baselland” was flying on the route with 38 passengers and nine crew members. A bomb detonated in the aft cargo compartment of the aircraft about nine minutes after take-off, during the ascent on a southerly course at approximately 12:15 UTC in the area of Lucerne north of the St. Gotthard Pass. The crew tried to turn the plane around and attempt an emergency landing at Zürich but had difficulty seeing the instruments due to smoke in the cockpit. The aircraft deviated more and more to the west and crashed a short time later in a wooded area at Würenlingen near Zürich, Switzerland, due to loss of electrical power. All aboard the aircraft were killed. A Government air inspector was flown to the scene in a helicopter. He was followed shortly afterward by a team of 50 investigators. The police said that a woman handed in a 9-mm. pistol found at the scene of the crash immediately after the disaster. Some of the wreckage, including pieces of cloth, was strung out on the tops and branches of trees. Sabotage was immediately suspected. A possible motive was revenge against Switzerland for three Palestinians who had been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by a Swiss court. An Arab guerrilla splinter group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, said in Beirut, Lebanon, that it had been responsible for the explosion. Reuters reported later, however, from Amman, Jordan, that a spokesman for the guerrilla group had denied that it was involved. A barometric-triggered bomb had been used. On the same day, another bomb exploded aboard an Austrian Airlines Vienna-bound Caravelle after takeoff from Frankfurt. The Caravelle landed safely.
Postal history
As noted in Kibble - On 21 February 1970 Swissair Flight 330 left Zürich, Switzerland, bound for Tel Aviv, Israel. A bomb exploded in the rear cargo compartment nine minutes after take-off. The crew attempted to turn the plane around and undertake an emergency landing at Zürich, but it crashed a short time later in a wooded area at Würenlingen, near Zürich. A bomb with an altimeter trigger was placed in a package mailed to an Israeli address by Palestinian extremists. All 47 persons on board were killed. A small amount of mail was recovered from the crash and is highly prized by collectors of crash mail. A black instructional marking in French was applied to any mail that survived the crash, which translated reads:
Correspondence is from “Coronado” that fell at Würenlingen. Zürich 58 Post Office
The Coronado bombing saw a change in mailing practices across the globe. In particular, mail sent or routed to Israel through the UK, Italy, and the USA was required to be sent by surface mail in the immediate future. Airmail to Israel was no longer permitted. Jewish Telegraphic Agency report. Airmail from Europe Fails to Arrive in Israel Despite Assurances It Would 25 February 1970 JERUSALEM Partial press release refers to: No airmail from Europe arrived in Israel today despite assurances from several airlines that deliveries would continue. At least a dozen international carriers suspended mail and cargo services to Israel following last Saturday’s fatal crash of a Swissair jet. The airlines said the measure was temporary, and several announced yesterday that they were rescinding the ban. But planes of the West German Lufthansa, the British BEA, and Swissair landed at Lydda Airport today minus their mail bags. The captain of the Swissair flight refused to take outgoing mail but agreed when informed by postal authorities that he was acting contrary to his company’s instructions. Israel made strong representations to the International Postal Union yesterday against any delays in foreign mail deliveries.
