Russian accused of killing air traffic controller

A Russian man accused of stabbing the air traffic controller who was on duty when his wife and two children were killed in a mid-air collision arrived in court today for the first day of his trial for premeditated murder.

Swiss prosecutors say Vitaly Kaloyev killed the controller as revenge for his role in the July 2002 plane crash that killed 71 people over southern Germany, an area run by Swiss air traffic control authorities.

Peter Nielsen, the 36-year-old Danish-born controller, died of multiple stab wounds in front of his wife in his back garden in February 2004.

Nielsen was on duty alone on the day of the mid-air collision and reportedly gave only 44 seconds’ warning to a Bashkirian Airlines plane and a DHL cargo aircraft that they were getting too close.

He told the Russian plane to descend – sending the jetliner straight into the cargo jet. If found guilty, Kaloyev would face a minimum sentence of five years in prison.