Air traffic controller blamed for fatal military crash
A Swiss air rescue helicopter searches for the missing F/A-18 pilot next to wreckage of the aircraft over the Chelen glacier in 2016.
Frei
A Swiss air traffic controller has been found guilty of negligent homicide after a fatal military aircraft accident in 2016.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
On Tuesday in the main hearing of Military Court 2 sentenced the air traffic controller to a conditional fine of 60 daily rates of CHF170. The co-accused leader pilot was acquitted.
The remaining proceedings, including those due to negligent non-compliance with official regulations and waste of material, were discontinued.
The court saw the air traffic controller as sharing responsibility for the fatal accident, in contrast to the leading military pilot.
Even if one takes into account that many unfortunate circumstances came together for him, from the court’s point of view he made a devastatingly wrong decision, said the presiding judge when announcing the verdict.
This wrong decision consisted of the fact that, upon consultation with the pilot who later had an accident, he gave the wrong minimum flight altitude, i.e. a minimum altitude that was massively too low. The attempt to correct this error came too late.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
The citizenship obstacle course facing spouses of Swiss Abroad
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Swiss Senate committee wants to stop UNRWA funding
This content was published on
Switzerland should stop payments to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) immediately, according to a Senate committee.
This content was published on
Wind generated 160 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity across Switzerland last year, according to the Swiss Wind Energy Association (Suisse-Eole). It was a "good year but less exceptional than 2023", it said.
Swiss authorities draw up new rules to manage PFAS
This content was published on
The Swiss federal authorities are working on drawing up regulations for toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”. A government report is expected by the end of the year.
This content was published on
Eugen Kägi, who helped build the family-run firm behind the popular chocolate-covered Kägi-fret wafers, died on February 13, aged 96, it was announced on Tuesday.
Empty offices in Switzerland could house 43,000 people
This content was published on
Empty office buildings in Switzerland could in theory accommodate 43,000 people, according to a report by Swiss public television, RTS.
UBS among leading non-US investors in nuclear weapons producers, says study
This content was published on
The number of financial institutions funding major nuclear weapons manufacturers continues to fall, a new report shows. The Swiss bank UBS bank is one of the top 30 investors.
Around 68,000 Ukrainian refugees live in Switzerland
This content was published on
Three years after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, almost 68,000 Ukrainians are currently living in Switzerland as refugees with protection status S.
English and other foreign languages on rise in Switzerland
This content was published on
The proportion of people in Switzerland whose main language is not one of the four national languages – German, French, Italian or Romansh - has risen significantly in recent years.
Police bust drug trafficking ring in southern Switzerland
This content was published on
Valais cantonal police have broken up a major drug trafficking ring in the Sierre region in southern Switzerland. Thirty people, including minors, have been arrested.
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.