1. Introduction1.1 About the MissionIn international air transportation, airline flight operations play a vital role in ensuring that passengers and cargo arrive at their destinations safely and on time. After witnessing the crash of Crossair Flight 3597, the objective of this mission is to analyze the factual information, the causes of the crash and thus draw valuable lessons from the mistakes made which led to the crash.2. Facts About Crossair Flight 35972.1 About Flight 3597Crossair Flight 3597 was a scheduled flight from Berlin-Tegel, Germany to Zurich, Switzerland on November 24, 2001. 28 passengers, 3 flight attendants and 2 crew members The flight crew were on board. The captain was the pilot flying (PF) and the co-pilot is the non-pilot flying (NPF) or supporting role of monitoring and managing radio communications.2.2 Type of approachEvents relevant to the The accident began when Crossair Flight 3597 received clearance to begin an approach to runway 28, Zurich Airport, at 20:58:50 UTC. At Zurich Airport, runway 28 was not equipped with an instrument landing system (ILS); pilots must perform a non-precision or VOR/DME approach. The approach sector was not equipped with a minimum safe altitude warning (MSAW) system which triggers an alarm if a minimum safe altitude is violated. The extent of the hills on which the aircraft crashed was not shown on the approach chart used by the flight crew.2.2 Weather conditionsThe weather conditions, particularly the runway visual range, were measured by the airport from a station away from runway 28 and therefore did not accurately reflect actual visibility. The flight preceding Flight 3597 indicated that weather conditions were near minimums - they were not within sight of the runway until the very last m...... middle of paper ...... importance of flight crew training, particularly CRM and airmanship, as well as flight crew planning. Crossair's training department should have administered skills tests to pilots. Even the most routine procedures and basic standards must be executed with care and concentration, because safety is in everyone's hands and there is no room for error in overall flight operations.5 . References1. AVIATION SECURITY NETWORK. (2004). Description of the accident. Accessed September 26, 2011 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20011124-02. AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION OFFICE. (2004). Final Report No. 1793 by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. Payerne, Switzerland: Author.3. http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Discipline_(OGHFA_BN)4. http://www.icao.int/safety/Implementation/Library/Duty%20times%20fatigue.pdf