In the last few moments, SWISS flight LX64 bound for Miami from Zurich has declared an emergency near the French coast.
HB-JMH is the aircraft involved.
Follow below for live updates…
LIVE Emergency: SWISS LX64 Zurich-Miami…
UPDATE #1 @ 1510 UK time – The aircraft is currently at FL320 and has done a u-turn. Looks to be returning to Zurich.
UPDATE #2 @ 1515 UK time – HB-JMH is the aircraft involved in the incident.
As per Planespotters, HB-JMH is a 21.3 year old Airbus A340-300 that was delivered to the airline back in April 2004.
Also, of the A340-300 variant, the carrier has four of them left in their fleet.
Moreover, of the four, all of them are in active service, with an average fleet age of 21.6 years.
UPDATE #3 @ 1517 UK time – Based on the flight path, the Miami-bound aircraft appears to be dumping fuel before making the return back to Zurich.
EMERGENCY UPDATE #4 @ 1520 UK time – The aircraft has changed it’s squawk code from 7700 to 3027.
Furthermore, this indicates that the emergency is under control.
However, we will continue to track the aircraft until it’s safe arrival back into ZRH.
UPDATE #5 @ 1524 UK time – At this time, the reason for the initial emergency declaration is unknown.
UPDATE #6 @ 1535 UK time – SWISS flight LX64, originally bound for Miami, is making strong progress back towards Zurich after it’s emergency declaration not too long ago.
EMERGENCY UPDATE #7 @ 1558 UK time – The aircraft is getting closer to Zurich.
A descent from FL320 to FL280 has been initiated during this time as well.
UPDATE #8 @ 1610 UK time – The Airbus A340 has begun the bulk of it’s descent into ZRH.
We should expect arrival within the next 15-20 minutes at the maximum.
Approach…
UPDATE #9 @ 1623 UK time – The aircraft has entered into some holds off the west of Zurich.
UPDATE #10 @ 1635 UK time – The aircraft has exited the hold and is preparing for approach.
EMERGENCY UPDATE #11 @ 1643 UK time – LX64 is now on final into ZRH.
UPDATE #12 @ 1647 UK time – TOUCHDOWN!
SWISS Flight LX64, which declared an emergency whilst bound for Miami, has appeared to have touched down safely into Zurich following the decision to u-turn.
At this stage, it is unclear what the official reason for this incident is.
As soon as we have more information pertinent to this, we will update you accordingly.
For now, this remains a developing story. More to follow.
