Location: Überlingen, Germany (airspace over the German-Swiss border).
Story: On July 1, 2002, two aircraft, a Bashkirian Airlines flight carrying 52 gifted children and a DHL cargo jet, were on a collision course. Their onboard collision avoidance systems (TCAS) issued correct, opposite instructions to avoid disaster. However, Swiss air traffic controller Peter Nielsen, working alone due to staffing and technical failures, overrode the system. He mistakenly instructed the passenger plane to descend, placing it directly into the path of the descending cargo jet. All 71 people on both planes perished. 🛫
Twist: Among the dead were the wife and two young children of Russian architect Vitaly Kaloyev. Consumed by grief and accountability from the airline or air traffic control, Kaloyev tracked down Nielsen at his Swiss home two years later. He showed Nielsen photos of his dead family, pleading for an apology. When Nielsen (reportedly) pushed the pictures away, Kaloyev stabbed him to death. Kaloyev was convicted but hailed as a vigilante hero in Russia. His daughter Diana's broken pearl necklace, found in the wreckage, became the lasting symbol of the tragedy. The disaster permanently changed global aviation rules, mandating that pilots always obey TCAS instructions over controller commands. ✈