German Fighter Plane Crashes Into Alps, Killing Pilot


Thursday, April 12th 2007, 8:27 pm
By: News On 6


BERN, Switzerland (AP) _ A German fighter jet crashed in the Swiss Alps Thursday, killing the pilot and leaving a crew member dangling from a cliff in his parachute, police said.

The crew member was slighty injured as he ejected from the Tornado fighter and snagged the chute. Bern police spokesman Markus Schneider said he was rescued by a helicopter.

The body of the pilot was found with the crash debris below the cliff near the village of Lauterbrunnen in central Switzerland, Schneider said.

The German Defense Ministry confirmed that one of its aircraft had crashed in Switzerland, but was unable to provide more details and it was unclear what caused the crash.