The Swiss Air Force show teams will take to the skies again later this month – now under stricter safety measures following accidents in St Moritz and the Netherlands.
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The Swiss Armed Forces announced on Tuesday that pilot training would resume next week, and that safety standards for air shows had been raised. Solo pilots will now perform at an elevation of 60 metres rather than 46m, and groups will fly at 92m rather than 60m above the ground.
PC-7 pilots will also have to keep a greater distance from each other. The new policy requires three metres of space between planes; previously, it was two.
In February, a PC-7 jet performing as part of Patrouille Suisse’s aerobatic teamExternal link clipped a television cable above the finish line at the skiing world championships in St Moritz, sending a camera plummeting to the ground and briefly interrupting the event. No one was injured.
Last June, two Patrouille Suisse F-5 jets collided near a Dutch air base, with one crashing in a pond and the other landing safely with a damaged tail. The pilot of the plane that fell in the water ejected and landed in a greenhouse with cuts and bruises.
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That was close! Swiss air force plane clips TV cable
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A Swiss air force plane has clipped a television cable above the finish line at the skiing world championships in St Moritz.
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The Air and Space Days at the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne is taking place on October 8. But the head of the air force, Aldo Schellenberg, and Defence Minister Guy Parmelin decided to cancel air demonstrations by the Super Puma and PC 7 display teams. Air-related events will still take place on the ground,…
Patrouille Suisse display team to return to the skies
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The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that five jets from the Patrouille Suisse display team would take part in the 75th anniversary of the Meiringen air base in canton Bern on June 17-18. All acrobatic flights of Patrouille Suisse had been temporarily suspended following a collision between two Swiss F-5 fighter jets near…
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The Swiss defence ministry said on Friday that two teams had been dispatched to the Netherlands, comprising flight safety specialists and a care team for the pilots. The pilot of the plane that crashed ejected before impact and landed in a greenhouse, said Air Force Commander Aldo Schellenberg at a media conference on Thursday. He…
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