Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

House damaged, person injured after aerobatic display collision

Patrouille Suisse F-5 Tiger aircraft
The Patrouille Suisse mishap was the second major incident for the aerobatic team in seven years. Anthony Anex

Two aircraft from the Swiss military aerobatic display team, Patrouille Suisse, collided on Thursday with falling debris hitting a house. One person on the ground was slightly injured in the accident.

The two F-5 Tiger planes were part of a formation practicing for a yodelling festival in canton Zug, central Switzerland.

The nose cone of one aircraft broke off and hit a house in the vicinity of the town of Baar, damaging the façade of the building and slightly injuring one person with shattered glass.

The braking parachute of the other aircraft deployed in mid-air but caused no damage and was later recovered.

All the seven aircraft involved in the practice session landed safely and no pilot was injured, according to the defence ministry.

A military investigation has begun to ascertain the cause of the accident. The Patrouille Suisse display for the yodelling festival on Friday has been cancelled.

Last December, a military tribunal convicted a Patrouille Suisse pilot of negligent misuse of his aircraft and of squandering equipment after a crash in the Netherlands in 2016.

Patrouille Suisse were grounded for a short time after that crash and were banned from a certain formation when they were again allowed to perform.

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR