Investigations against AUA: abuse of office after hailstan!

Investigations against AUA: abuse of office after hailstan!

Almost ten months after the serious hailstorm weather, which damaged an AUA machine on her return flight from Palma de Mallorca to Vienna on June 9, 2024, the legal clarification of the incident is further promoted. The Vienna public prosecutor's office has now initiated investigations against the head and six other persons from the Federal Security Investigation Center (SUB). This happened due to the suspicion of abuse of office, promotion and evidence suppression, whereby not all suspects are affected equally, such as OE24 reported.

During the incident, the machine put down a "Mayday" emergency call and landed safely at Vienna-Schwechat Airport without passengers being injured. Nevertheless, the Airbus A320 suffered significant damage. In this context, three weeks ago, important evidence, such as the Cockpit Voice Recorder and the flight data writer, was confiscated in the Ministry of Transport after the sub had not published them voluntarily.

Investigations and allegations

The passenger attorney Wolfgang List had previously brought in a presentation of the fact that the Vienna public prosecutor's office, in which suspicion was expressed on corruption and other crimes. As a result, the Viennese indictment tested the initial suspicion and initiated an investigation. In an interim report of the SUB, the incident was classified as a "incident" and not as a "accident", which was also criticized by lawyer List. He accused the SUB to prevent the publication of the records of the Voice Recorder and the data memory.

The procedures concerned have now been submitted by the head of the SUB and the other suspects, while international private reports certify that the incident. The evaluation of the confiscated cockpit voice recorder and flight data writer is still pending, and the Vienna Higher Regional Court must decide whether to ensure the records.

role of the Federal Office for Flight Accident Investigation

The Federal Office for Flight Accident Investigation (BFU) is active in accordance with Regulation No. 996/2010 and the flight accident investigation law and examines accidents and serious disorders with civilian aircraft in Germany. Regardless of the judicial or administrative procedure and goals, these examinations are primarily on accident prevention, the BFU informs on its website bfu-web.de . Reports from the BFU do not contain any findings on guilt or liability and are not provided for legal disputes.

The public prosecutor's office in Korneuburg has also accused the negligent community hazard. Due to the scope of the investigation, an end to the procedure is not yet foreseeable, which further delays the legal information beyond the incident.