Basel plane crash child victim from Bristol named 51 years later

A photograph of passengers boarding the flight was found on the camera of an unknown passenger

The name of a girl who died in a plane crash has been added to the list of victims, 51 years after the disaster.

Jane Surridge, aged nine, was on Invicta Airlines Flight 435 which crashed on landing after flying from Bristol to Basel, Switzerland, in 1973.

Jane's classmate Geoff Wilmott realised her name was not listed with the other 107 victims.

"It was a bit unsettling to think that she'd almost dropped out of history," he said.

Mr Wilmott attended Cleve House Primary School in Knowle West, Bristol, with Ms Surridge in the 1970s.

He remembers the day of the crash - 10 April - and watched the coverage on BBC Points West when he was eight-years-old.

Geoff Wilmott was in the same class as Jane Surridge, who died in the crash

"It was one of those things that really makes quite a big impression on you - it's not really the sort of thing you expect to happen," he said.

The plane, which was carrying 140 passengers, many of them mothers from Somerset on their way to a shopping trip in Switzerland, encountered a huge snowstorm when coming in to land.

After two unsuccessful attempts, it crashed into a hill, killing 104 passengers and four crew members, including the two pilots.

Just 35 passengers survived, along with two members of cabin crew, one of whom managed to escape uninjured.

The plane crashed into a hill, killing 108 people onboard

When the 50th anniversary of the crash was commemorated last year, Mr Wilmott said he was inspired to learn more about the disaster.

He found the Swiss Air Disaster website, which was created by some of the bereaved families.

Although it lists the names of the victims - including Jane's parents and grandfather - it did not include Jane herself.

Knowing that she died in the crash, Mr Wilmott sourced burial records and an old school photograph to prove that his childhood friend was a victim.

Burial records show that Jane Surridge was buried in the same plot with her family on 25 April 1973

The documents showed that the family were buried in the same plot in Arnos Vale Cemetery on 25 April, 1973.

"It's strange enough looking down on a website and seeing the names of people that you know listed as victims, but it was really quite a nasty jolt," Mr Wilmott said.

"I thought this doesn't feel right and I need to bring this to somebody's attention to make sure that she is listed with everybody else."

Nick Wood co-founded the Swiss Air Disaster website after realising that an official list of all the victims had never been released.

Nick Wood's cousin and aunt died in the plane crash

He said there was "a lot of confusion" over who had survived - including his aunt and cousin who were incorrectly named as survivors at first.

Shortly after the website was created, Mr Wood was contacted by one of Jane's second cousins, and later Mr Wilmott, to tell him that her name was missing from the list.

"I was always slightly nervous because I was aware that we may miss people or may have different spellings," Mr Wood said.

"I was really pleased to make sure the list is complete, as we hope it is now."