February 26 
An air traffic controller has been slain outside his home near Zurich Airport in what appears to be retribution payback on the July 1, 2002 collision of a Russian airliner with a cargo plane in air space controlled by the Swiss

"Air accident investigators have said the controller - who has never been identified - told the pilot of the Bashkirian Airlines plane to descend when its on-board collision warning equipment (TCAS) was demanding it climb"

"The pilot followed the instructions of the controller which put the jetliner on collision course with the DHL cargo plane which also was descending in accordance with its collision-avoidance equipment"

February 23 
45 year-old South Australian pilot Mark Burdorf on contract to the USA construction company Louis Berger Group has been killed after his helicopter was fired upon by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

"One of two helicopters we have subcontracted for was downed taking off early this morning around Kandahar"

"It took hits from Taliban raiders. The pilot was the first one who was hit. The craft came down and other people were wounded .. he was three weeks into his second 30-day tour ferrying workers to road repair sites in Afghanistan"

February 22 
An ultralight with 2 POB impacted the ground about 50m short of the main runway at Caloundra Airport at around 0900hrs after a suspected engine failure - the pilot in command did not survive the impact

"...the pilot - who was well-known in aviation circles - experienced ultra-light and general aviation pilot and his friend was also a GA (professional) pilot"

The New Zealand-built Bantam ultralight is a 'high-drag with engine-out machine' consistent with similar OZ designs that can catch out experienced light aircraft pilots used to less drag with an inoperative engine

February 28 
Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski and 8 others on board a Beech Super King Air 200 were killed when the turbo-prop aircraft hit a mountain in southern Bosnia about 80 kilometres south of Sarajevo

The President and his advisers were en route to an international investment conference in the western Bosnian city of Mostar when the Government owned Beech ran into bad weather

"There were no survivors"