Andre Dosé resigned his post as CEO of Swiss International Airlines last month amid a continuing investigation into the Nov. 21, 2001 crash of a Crossair Avro RJ100 near Basseldorf, Switzerland. Swiss chairman Pieter Bouw has replaced Dosé as CEO.

Dosé left the company as Switzerland’s Bureau of Air Accident Investigation (BFU) prepared to launch a probe into accusations that negligence on the part of former Crossair managers contributed to the crash. Just 10 months earlier Dosé assumed the CEO position from Crossair’s founder, Moritz Suter. The airline subsequently absorbed the assets of its bankrupt parent company, Swissair, and reemerged as Swiss in early 2002.

The BFU issued a report in February that the Avro’s captain allowed the airplane to descend below minimum descent altitude on its approach to Zurich, despite the lack of prescribed visibility, and that the copilot did nothing to prevent continuation of the flight below MDA. The report also said the 57-year-old captain, who accumulated several blemishes on his record during his piloting career, suffered from exhaustion.

In a written statement, Dosé said the Swiss board of directors had asked
him to take a leave of absence until the BFU closed its investigation. Instead, he chose to resign, due partly to the airline’s persistent financial problems. The airline has yet to turn a quarterly profit since its establishment in April 2002.