Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Air Zermatt helicopter crashes in Swiss Alps

Air Zermatt helicopter
An Air Zermatt helicopter in 2018 © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

An Air Zermatt helicopter crashed on the Monte Rosa massif on Tuesday morning. The aircraft was destroyed, but none of the five occupants was injured.

The accident occurred at around 7.45am on the Col Gnifetti, in the Monte Rosa massif, at an altitude of almost 4,500 metres. The aircraft “entered a vortex on its approach to landing and hit the ground hard”, Air Zermatt said in a statementExternal link. During the fall, the rotor blades touched the ground and the helicopter tipped onto its side.

Five people, including the pilot and a flight assistant, were on board. None of them was injured, Air Zermatt and the Valais cantonal police said.

The aircraft was carrying glaciologists, according to Air Zermatt. It was on its way to the Margherita hut, the highest refuge in Europe, added the Valais cantonal police.

Earlier in the morning, the police had indicated that an operation “in conjunction with a helicopter” was in progress on the Monte Rosa massif.

More

The helicopter, an Ecureuil, was used for commercial flights and not for rescue operations, Philipp Perren, chairman of the company’s board of directors, told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS. “This accident therefore has no impact whatsoever on our rescue work,” he added.

The incident is the subject of an investigation by the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board, the body responsible for determining the cause of aviation accidents.

More

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

films

More

Swiss films made their mark abroad in 2024

This content was published on Several Swiss films exceeded the 100,000 admissions mark worldwide in 2024 and received widespread praise at international film festivals.

Read more: Swiss films made their mark abroad in 2024

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