A Swiss Air Force jet crashed in the central canton of Obwalden on Wednesday, according to the country’s Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport.
The department tweeted on Wednesday that the pilot of the F-5 Tiger ejected from the cockpit and survived the crash near Melchsee-Frutt in the central canton of Obwalden.
There were no immediate details on what caused the incident with the F-5 Tiger, a single seat, tactical fighter jet.
Heute gegen 09:00 ist ein F-5 der Luftwaffe bei Melchsee-Frutt abgestürzt. Der Pilot blieb unverletzt.
— VBS - DDPS (@vbs_ddps) May 26, 2021
Der Tiger F-5 war in Payerne gestartet und befand sich auf Trainingsflug als Sparringpartner für die F/A-18 der Luftwaffe. Militärjustiz untersucht zurzeit die Unfallursache. pic.twitter.com/UO1K0MEdkl
“The Tiger F-5 took off from Payerne and was on a training flight as a sparring partner for an Air Force F/A-18 [when the crash took place]. Military justice is currently investigating the cause of the accident”, the tweet, in particular, says.
The crash is the latest in a series of similar accidents involving Swiss fighter jets over the last five years.
F-5 Tiger jets of the Patrouille Suisse perform during a flight show of the Swiss Air Force in Axalp near Meiringen, Switzerland, 10 October 2018. (Photo by Marcel Bieri/EPA/EFE) pic.twitter.com/sSSEwa3Xqy
— Lord of the tweets (@Joopjadieja) December 18, 2018
F-5 Tiger jets of the 'Patrouille Suisse' and a commercial Airbus A321 plane of Swiss International Air Lines perform prior the Men's Downhill race run at FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in Wengen, Switzerland. 📷 epa-efe / keystone / Anthony Anex#FIS #skiing #Wengen #epaphotos pic.twitter.com/wMl629fGFh
— european pressphoto agency (@epaphotos) January 18, 2020
These include an incident in August 2016, when a Swiss Air Force F/A-18 jet crashed into the mountains in central Switzerland. In June of the same year, two F-5 jets from the Patrouille Suisse aerobatic display team collided in the Netherlands.
The Swiss military insists that the current fleet of F/A-18s and Tigers is ageing, and that it needs replacing before 2030 at the latest.
