What happened
On February 21, 1970, Swissair Flight 330 departed Zurich for Tel Aviv. About fifteen minutes before the crash, an altitude-sensitive bomb exploded in the rear cargo compartment. The crew attempted to turn back for an emergency landing in Zurich, but smoke and electrical failures made the aircraft increasingly difficult to control. The plane crashed in a wooded area near Würenlingen in canton Aargau. All 38 passengers and nine crew members were killed.
The investigation
Investigators concluded that the explosive device had entered the air-cargo system in Munich and was apparently intended for an Israeli El Al aircraft. Because of a change in flight routing, the package instead traveled aboard Swissair Flight 330. A Jordanian national and other suspects became the focus of the investigation, and arrest warrants were issued, but none of the suspects was brought before a Swiss court.
What was established — and what was not
Swiss investigations attributed responsibility to Palestinian militants, but the absence of a trial means that individual criminal liability was never established by a court. Initial investigations were closed in 1985, reopened in 1995 and finally discontinued in 2000. In 2018, the federal prosecutor declined a request to reopen the case, finding that the newly presented material was insufficient and that too much time had elapsed.
Unproven later allegations
Decades after the bombing, claims appeared that Swiss officials may have reached a secret understanding with the Palestine Liberation Organization after the attack. Those claims and allegations of a cover-up were never proven; a parliamentary review found no basis to establish the alleged secret arrangement. They therefore remain separate from the confirmed facts of the bombing itself.
Sources and further reading
Case context
The bombing remains one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Swiss history. The technical cause of the crash was established, but the judicial story ended without a prosecution, leaving a sharp distinction between investigative attribution and guilt proven in court.