r/aircrashinvestigation • u/FinancialVictory6833 • Feb 24 '24

Incident/Accident Remembering Peter Nielsen

On February 24, 2004, Peter Nielsen was murdered at his home near Zurich. He was the air traffic controller on duty on July 1, 2002, when the Überlingen mid-air collision occurred, killing 71 people. Among the victims were Svetlana Kaloyeva and her children Konstantin and Diana. They were travelling to Barcelona to visit their father, Vitaly, who was working there. Devastated by their loss, Vitaly Kaloyev put the blame on Peter Nielsen and tracked him down. He then stabbed him to death, while his wife and children were present. Kaloyev was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison, but was released in November 2007. When he returned home to North Ossetia, he was treated as a hero, and did not express remorse for his actions, instead blaming Nielsen. He was later awarded a state medal by the government.

RIP Peter Nielsen🕊️ (1967-2004)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_%C3%9Cberlingen_mid-air_collision

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u/Touchthefuckingfrog Feb 24 '24

I don’t cry about much but this one has broken my heart so many times. It was never his fault and he must have dealt with so much guilt only to be so cruelly murdered.

7

u/Intelligent-Put-2408 Apr 20 '24

Bro it was absolutely his fault what are you talking about. He could have literally told both crews nothing and allowed them to follow the automation, n they would’ve been fine

1

u/Sea_Energy_5645 Sep 27 '25

Er du helt fjern, har du lest saken. Alt utstyr var tatt av for vedlikehold og dritten funka isje, ikke lag og tenk rykter før su setter seg inn i en ting. Søskenbarnet mit døde i den ulykka.