Just Another Crash? Revisited

By Betty Gosling

Following Helene Schnitzer's article Just Another Crash in the last issue of Transit Betty Gosling has written to say that the accident actually occurred on 1st July, not 2nd as stated in the article. The data was taken from Metro magazine but CNN and Reuters confirm the July 1st date. Betty's comments on the charts for July 1st follow below.

(Chart 1 Mid air collision 1 July 2002 23:35 CEDT , -2h Uberlingen, Germany 47N46 09E10)

Swiss air traffic controllers on 1st July 2002 were understaffed and the system was not fully operative because of maintenance. In the usually slack period towards the end of the evening there were two operators on duty and one had taken an unofficial "tea break" leaving only one person to monitor the apparently low volume of traffic. The DHL courier cargo Boeing 757 piloted by British Paul Philips and a Canadian copilot had come from Sitrah, Bahrein on route to Brussels, refuelling at Bergamo while the Russian Tupolev passenger jet was a specially chartered jet for some 71 Russian schoolchildren from wealthy families on their way to a seaside holiday in Barcelona. Owing to a delay at their original departure airport at Bashkortostanin, they had missed their intended connection at Moscow. Because of their important status (very rich), another plane, the Russian Tupolev jet, was laid on specially. The two planes approached the German/Swiss border where they were now under Swiss air control. Apparently, the Swiss controller only realised that the two planes were on a collision course at the last minute as his alert warning system was switched off for maintenance. He instructed the Russian pilot to descend while the British pilot had been warned by his cockpit warning system to do the same. It seems that the Russian plane also had a warning system which told the pilot to ascend giving him an unenviable choice to make and he made the wrong one. The resultant crash lit up the sky and wreckage was scattered for miles around. I don't know the result of the Swiss air traffic control enquiry but changes would hopefully have been made.

(Chart 2 Russian pilot told to descend 1 July 2002 23:34:02 CEDT , -2h Uberlingen, Germany 47N46 09E10)

A lot more could be said of the charts no doubt but looking at the chart for the "descend" instruction to the Russian pilot, there were only seconds between a miss and a collision as can be seen by Aquarius rising with Uranus close to the Ascendant. With Uranus there can be a kind of frozen moment in time when the fixed nature of Aquarius stays the abrupt change of Uranus - a cliff-hanging moment, which can be indecisive because of the alarm and panic which lies behind it. The Nodes are exactly square the Vertex in Virgo in the 7th house with the North Node inconjucnt the Part of Fortune in the 8th of death in Scorpio - the controller's instruction and the pilot's reaction to it sealed the death warrant. It would appear that the cockpit voice warning instructed the British pilot at much the same time otherwise they would not have collided as they did, so the same chart is effective for both planes, since the positional differences would amount only to seconds not degrees. Chiron of method is in the spur of the moment 11th house, and he's in Capricorn sign of decisions, final aims, but Capricorn is slow and sure and Chiron being Virgo's natural ruler also needs to sound out the method. It would have been a considered reaction, a trained one, when an instinctive reaction was needed even though impossible. Pilots cannot fly modern day commercial aircraft "by the seat of their pants" as planes were flown in the earlier days of air travel. I wonder if the Dark Moon Lillith, here exactly square Chiron from Aries and the 1st house, helped to precipitate a crash, Aries and the Martian 1st belonging to the "headbutting" brigade and squaring Chiron of health would certainly induce harm. Mars himself is virtually on top of Jupiter ruling the MC and Jupiter sits right on the 6th cusp.

(Chart 3 Cargo plane departure, 1 July 2002 13:16 GMT, Sitrah, Bahrain 26N09 50E38)

Looking at the departure charts - and assuming the times given are accurate - for Sitrah and Moscow they appear dissimilar though the end result was the same. However, if we turn to the Bergamo departure chart we can see that the die is cast for the factors in the two charts have come together: apart from the actual position within a house,the only difference between the charts is the Bergamo Moon at 0 degrees 38 minutes Aries and the other at 29 degrees 59 minutes Pisces. One might surmise from that that the mistake was the Russian pilot's because either he procrastinated or because he made the wrong choice. The Russian departure looks ominous because of Pluto exactly conjunct the MC and very close to the South Node. He rules the 9th house of long distance travel and is in opposition to Mercury and Saturn in the 4th house of endings. Saturn rules the house of mistakes and this was a fatal error. Saturn is exactly quindecile (165 degrees) Chiron of method, the Achilles heel, in his sign in the 11th. There is a kind of compulsion attached to the quindecile, almost a fated feeling; maybe this was an accident waiting to happen especially as Mercury is also quindecile Chiron. There seems to have been a lacksadasical attitude on the part of the Swiss air traffic controllers on duty, perhaps shown by the Moon ruling the 6th house in dozy Pisces who ignores or who cant' appreciate dangers and can have a sloppy attitude. The Moon here is in the unfortunate 29th degree of a sign - coming to the end of its tether, probably showing that the air traffic controller was getting tired, a constant state for Pisces at times. Neptune is exactly inconjunct the Sun suggesting he needed to put some life into what he was doing and would do so abruptly - both the controller and the pilot had to react quickly and suddenly but unfortunately too late - very Neptunian.

(Chart 4 Russian Tupelov departs Moscow 1 July 2002, 19:48 GMT Moscow, Russia 55N45 37E35)

Uranus, ruler of the chart showing a journey out of the norm, is exactly quintile Pluto and the South Node, some skill was called for but being retrograde, Uranus was separating from the survivor Pluto and applying to the "easy way out" South Node and the MC. The flight is due to have an unusual outcome. Munkasey gives "pilot" to Uranus, but with Uranus in aspect to Neptune he is going to lose control of events. There was a suggestion that language difficulties might have caused the Russian pilot's initial hesitation in response to the controller's request to descend. Jupiter rules foreign languages and here he is conjunct Mars of conflict in the 6th house of the way things and people work. The two are semi-sextile Mercury of communication and Saturn of orders in the 4th house in Gemini showing conflicting instructions. Chiron is in the house of choices opposition Sun, ruler of the 7th of the other person, the other option and the Sun in Cancer is very much influenced by the moods and emotions of the moment.

With Venus in her own house close to the Descendant, exactly sextile Mercury in its own sign, either option would have had its merits as there would have been that fatal indecision since Venus of balance rules both the 8th and 3rd houses. We can see form the Nodes across the 4th/10th axis, close the the IC/MC that this is a tragic and traumatic event. Uranus in his own sign ruling the chart from close to the Ascendant makes an unexpected, sharp and abrupt impact. Pluto in the 10th conjunct the MC and South Node puts paid to everything and everyone but ruling the 9th here, holds out hope for changes in air traffic control - at least in Switzerland - which will improve the system. Mercury, ruler of 4th house conjunct Saturn in the 4th writes a very final end to the flights. With Venus ruler of 3rd travelling in 6th of workplace and colleagues, in spectacular Leo square compounding and powerful Pluto in extravagant Sagittarius, the unfortunate people involved went out in a horrifying, noticeable way, mostly a ball of fire. To add to the awful brightness of the terrible display, all three of the Fire rulers are in the Fire 5th, in the sign of endings; definitely a one-off performance. In case there should be any doubt, Chiron, natural ruler of the 6th, opposes the Sun from termination Capricorn in lightening 11th.

The cargo plane departure from Sitrah chart has the Pluto, South Node opposition Mercury/Saturn across 1st/7th so a battle-like confrontation. The East Point is exactly opposition Mercury, highlighting the role of the other person/s. Jupiter rules this chart and he's with Mars in the 8th, so there is a painful, emotionally over-the-top end to this journey. Chiron rules the 10th and it would seem that the authorities have to learn the hard way that a certain important practice has to stop. There has to be a toughening up of regulations. Unfortunately, there has to be a sacrifice as always. The Moon deposits the Sun from Pisces in the 4th while ruling the 8th, so it is the final sacrifice. Perhaps the exact square between Chiron and the Black Moon Lilith in the 4th is a reminder that the cause of the disaster, the two air traffic controllers (and the system) live on with the deaths of all those innocent victims on their conscience. Jupiter, ruler of the chart, is going out with a bang (Mars) both in 8th of death.

(Chart 5 Cargo plane departs Bergamo 23:05 CEDT, Bregamo Italy, 45N41 9E43)

If we look at the 1 degree progression, the Russian plane had taken approximately 2 hours (2 degrees) to get to the crash area bringing pASC opposite Venus ruler of 8th, pMC was exactly sextile Ascendant, pMercury sextile Mars, pSaturn sextile Jupiter of the final journey, pPart of Fortune in 8th square Neptune, p8th trine Uranus, p12th inconjunct Mercury, p6th semi-sextile Mercury, all exact. The cargo plane had flown about 30 minutes from Bergamo brining pMC exactly sextile 8th, p Sun inconjunct Neptune, pMercury conjunct Saturn, pMars conjunct Jupiter, pPluto conjunct South Node, pPart of Fortune semi-sextile MC, pNorth Node semi sextile 6th inconjunct 12th, all exact. I don't know if one can read any significance into the fact that the Russian plane and the cargo plane from Bergamo departed in a Moon hour on a Moon day, though the departure from Sitrah was in a Mars hour.

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