Military

Swiss fighter jets perform air display over wrong town

The Local
The Local - [email protected] • 9 Jul, 2019 Updated Tue 9 Jul 2019 16:09 CEST
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A Swiss aerial display team has performed a fly-past over the wrong town - startling people who were celebrating at a yodelling festival.

Patrouille Suisse were due to fly over the town of Langenbruck in the north of the country near Basel to honour the centenary of a Swiss flying pioneer.

Instead the team flew over the nearby town of Mümliswil, which was hosting the 31st North West yodelling festival.

 

Daniel Reist, spokesman for the Swiss army, confirmed the error, which he said was due to an unfortunate combination of circumstances.

"The distance between Mümliswil-Ramiswil and Langenbruck is only a few kilometres as the crow flies. As he approached the festival area in Mümliswil, the head of the Patrol saw a large tent, which is why they flew over it," he explained to the Swiss press.

He added that the pilots of the Swiss Patrol have equipment that is more than 40 years old and that "navigation is done with a map, a felt pen and a view".
 
The fly-past had been intended to honour the life of Swiss aviation pioneer Oskar Bider, who was born in Langenbruck on July 7, 1891.
 
After qualifying as a pilot in France, he was one of the first to cross the Pyrenees and the Alps by plane - a two-seater Blériot with an 80 horsepower Gnome engine.
 
Unfortunately, he lost his life in an accident on July 7, 1919.
 
 

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The Local 2019/07/09 16:09

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