Accident
On 20 April 1967, a Bristol Britannia aircraft operated by the Swiss airline Globe Air crashed 3.5 kilometers (2.2 mi) south of Nicosia Airport in Cyprus. The aircraft was on a charter flight from Bangkok, Thailand, to Basel, Switzerland, with scheduled stopovers in Colombo, Sri Lanka; Bombay, India; and Cairo, Egypt. Due to bad weather in Cairo, the crew diverted to Nicosia. During the third attempt to land on Runway 32 in a violent thunderstorm, the aircraft flew into a hill near the village of Lakatamia and burst into flames.
At the time of the crash, both pilots had exceeded their authorized duty time by three hours. The flight's first officer had less than 50 hours of flying time in Britannia aircraft.
Survivors
Four passengers survived: two Germans (Christa Blümel and Peter Femfert) and two Swiss (Verena Gysin and Nicolas Pulver). Three of them were seriously injured and were treated at a United Nations field hospital near Nicosia. The fourth survivor, Nicolas Pulver, was reported to be unhurt.
Legacy
The crash culminated in Globe Air's bankruptcy and the sale of paintings that led to the 1967 Basel Picasso paintings purchase referendum.
Casualties
The accident resulted in 126 fatalities among the 130 passengers and crew on board. This incident remains the deadliest aviation accident in Cyprus.