German Military Crash in Switzerland

[Airbubba]

MSNBC is reporting this news from the German Defense Ministry...

[Flying Bull]

Due to local radio station in Germany, one of the crew was found (bailed out), area not easily to be approached by ground forces, second crewmember still missing

[abbotyobs]

Apr 12, 2007, 16:31 GMT
Berlin - A German air force Tornado warplane crashed in the Swiss Alps on Thursday and one of the two crewmen was missing, an armed forces spokesman in Berlin said.
The other crewman was alive and had been taken to hospital. A search for the missing man was under way.
Swiss television reports said the jet was flying from Corsica to Germany on a training flight and had just taken off, after refuelling near the Swiss city of Lucerne, when it crashed in the canton of Berne.
An eyewitness told the SDA news agency of Switzerland he had seen the jet not long before the crash, as it flew low up a narrow Alpine valley and pulled up hard to cross a mountain, but he had not seen or heard the crash.
Germany last week sent six Tornado reconnaissance planes to Afghanistan to help NATO-led forces fighting the Taliban. The defence ministry said the crashed Tornado did not come from the squadron charged with the Afghan mission.

[High_lander]

Second crew member reported as dead.

:[

LINK (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,476913,00.html)

In German, some photos

[Sinbad1]

translation from the German link :confused:
The crash place is appropriate for Vallon according to in with difficulty accessible area, which can be attained only with the helicopter. Tomorrow representatives of the German authorities in Switzerland are expected. Eye-witnesses reported, the jet had flown in Bernese the upper country at an unusually low value of approximately 1600 meters from direction of the city intersheet to the Lauterbrunnertal. In the close valley surrounded by high mountains the pilot tried, the airplane up to pull. According to police data the jet fell into 3250 meters height into a cliff beside the virgin massif. The German vacationer Inge-borrow Kirschstein reported, the airplane raced into the valley. From a way been in their resort Muerren out, directly on the other valley side, saw the Bonnerin as well as friends the flier. "we thought, he it of the crest created", reported Kirschstein. In the cliff a smoke cloud with fire ball had to be seen seconds later. The explosion had to be heard relatively largely, a bang however, did not say surprisingly the citizen of Berlin holiday-maker hitting a corner pool of broadcasting corporations Eyser. "we were shaken all", said it. Tornadoes have a zweikoepfige crew. The combat aircraft can be used by different equipment also as reconnaissance plane. For this task the German Federal Armed Forces shifted six Tornadoes in the past week to Afghanistan. In addition it had loose-sent altogether to ten machines, in order to have replacement for possible losses. The fallen machine does not come a speaker citizens of Berlin of the Ministry of Defense according to from the clearing-up squadron 51 "Immelmann" in Jagel, which places the Tornadoes for the Afghanistan employment. The fighter plane originates from the fighter bomber wing 32 in Lechfeld in Bavaria, reports the "Bild" newspaper and "the Augsburger general one". The fighter bomber wing 32 belongs to the crisis reaction forces of the German Federal Armed Forces and in the Balkans was already used. The Tornado is used by the German Federal Armed Forces since 1981. Since then there were 44 total losses so mentioned according to data of the Ministry of Defense. In it contained both crashes and for example losses are by fires at the soil. With the Ungluecken there were 36 dead ones. Momentarily the Air Force of the German Federal Armed Forces has 188 Tornadoes. 1981 was it still 358. ler/AP/dpa:ok: