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| Date: | Thursday 5 June 1969 |
| Time: | c. 22:50 LT |
| Type: |  McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 |
| Owner/operator: | Swissair |
| Registration: | HB-IFR |
| MSN: | 47112/199 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1967 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 89 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Geneva International Airport (GVA/LSGG) -
 Switzerland
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Paris-Orly Airport (ORY/LFPO) |
| Geneva International Airport (GVA/LSGG) | |
| Investigating agency: | BFU Switz. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On Thursday, June 5, 1969, at 2256 local time, the DC 9 HB-IFR, Swissair Flight 729, arriving from Paris-Orly with 89 people on board, landed on runway 23 at Geneva Airport.
As the nose wheel made contact with the ground, the crew saw an unidentified object on the centerline by the glare of the bow light. Since an evasive maneuver was impossible, the aircraft struck the obstacle with the right main landing gear. Shortly after, the aircraft was shaken by severe vibrations. The captain immediately ordered the thrust reversal to be stopped and, believing the vibrations were caused by damage to the nose wheel, attempted to lighten the load on the nose landing gear leg as much as possible. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway without using the wheel brakes and evacuated the runway on its own via taxiway 3. The crew informed the tower of the incident and requested assistance from the airline's technical department. After a brief inspection for damage (see section 4), the aircraft is cleared to taxi to the landing satellite.
An initial runway inspection revealed that the aircraft had collided with one of the metal plugs used for temporary sealing.
The aircraft sustained the following damage: to the right landing gear, right hydraulic system torn off, wheel rim no. 3 broken and tire destroyed; to the fuselage, baggage compartment door and opening reinforcement frame locally torn off by ricochet of the cap on the fuselage.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
BFU Switzerland
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/319655 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 26 December 1971 | HB-IFR | Swissair | 0 | Wien-Schwechat International Airport (VIE) |  |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Jul-2024 05:55 | ASN | Added |
| 23-Jun-2025 12:48 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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