GENEVA: The Swiss fighter jet has crashed in central Switzerland during a training flight on Wednesday, the federal department of defense confirmed.
The F/A-18 fighter jet crash took place near the village of Alpnach, in the Swiss canton of Obwalden, where a military airport is located, Reuters reported.
However, no details on casualties and the exact circumstances of the incident were available.
Defense Ministry spokeswoman Karin Suini told Itar-Tass that the jet “was designed for 2 pilots.”
Interruption on a local railway line was reported due to power outage caused by the crash.
Reuters quoted a 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.
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.
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