F-18 gikk i fjellet i Sveits

Fighter jet crashes in Switzerland - Defense Ministry

Published time: October 23, 2013 12:40
Edited time: October 23, 2013 17:51                                                                               

 

An undated handout photo shows a Swiss Air Force twin seater Boeing FA-18D Hornet fighter plane. (Reuters)

                                          

An F/A-18 fighter jet crashed in central Switzerland during a training flight, the Swiss Federal Department of Defense has reported.
The crash took place near the village of Alpnach, in the Swiss canton of Obwalden, where a military airport is located. 
No details on casualties, or the exact circumstances of the incident, were immediately available.
Defense Ministry spokeswoman Karin Suini told Itar-Tass that the jet “was designed for 2 pilots.”
Local eyewitnesses have described the details of the incident to Blick.ch.
“I stood on the balcony, as the two F/A-18 flew by very low. Then there was a bang. A jet had slammed into a cliff,” one eyewitness said.
The man immediately went to the scene of the crash, and saw some debris, including engine parts, lying on the road. The crash also started a fire in the forest above, he said.
Residents of a nearby village reported a massive presence of police, firefighters and ambulances at the scene of the crash, including a rescue helicopter.
A local railway line was reportedly interrupted due to a power outage caused by the crash. 

Image from maps.google.com

According to SRF, this is the second incident involving an F/A-18 aircraft belonging to the Swiss Air Force. The first crash took place in the canton of Valais in April 1998, killing two pilots.
Switzerland purchased 34 US-made McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets in 1996, and the Swiss Army started operating them in 1997. Ten years later, Switzerland asked to be included in the F/A-18C/D upgrade program, to extend the use of its F/A-18 fighters.