Switzerland's public prosecutor is to decide whether to appeal after a federal criminal court acquitted six former Crossair executives of charges, including negligent homicide, over the fatal crash of a regional aircraft seven years ago.

Former Crossair chief Andre Dose, former chairman Moritz Suter and four others had faced a two-week criminal hearing arising from the deaths of 24 occupants on a BAE Systems Avro RJ100 which struck terrain on approach to Zurich.

Swiss investigators heavily criticised the RJ100's pilots - both of whom were killed in the crash - for failing to follow correct procedures, and slated the airline for inadequate crew management and safety oversight.

On May 18, the court cleared the defendants of charges of negligent homicide and causing grievous bodily harm through negligence. They had stood accused of being ultimately responsible for the fatalities through using pilots whose actions contributed to the November 24, 2001, accident.

Switzerland's federal public prosecutor has noted the judgement and admits it was aware of the difficulties associated with assessing the case. But in a statement the prosecutor adds that it was "obliged" to refer a matter of this scale to the court, given the "presence of sufficient suspicion".

It says it will consider whether appealing the judgement is warranted once it has received a written explanation of the judgement and conducted a detailed examination.