At a media conference in Bern on Monday evening, Schellenberg said his thoughts were with the pilot and his family. It had been flying over the Susten Pass area when it disappeared, reported the Federal Department of Defence on Monday afternoon.It is a single-seat aircraft, and the fate of the pilot is unknown.
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The pilot was able to escape using the ejector seat.Last October, a two-seat F/A-18 crashed in France during a training flight, injuring the pilot.
The Swiss military launched a search after a warplane belonging to the country’s air force went missing during a training exercise.
The suspected crash site is in the area around the Susten Pass in the centre of Switzerland, and is very hard to access, the ministry said.
A search mission was launched with helicopters, but was later abandoned due to bad weather. Bad weather was hampering the search in mountainous terrain.
The accident is the latest in a string of crashes to befall the Swiss airforce.
One of the aircraft crashed and burst into flames, but the pilot ejected to safety. He and the other F/A-18 Hornet pilot were practising manoeuvres for a potential fight with an F-5 Tiger aircraft.
No one was hurt on the ground after ejecting from the airplane and the pilot was only slightly injured.
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Swiss fighter jet missingAug 29, 2016 – 18:10A Swiss F/A-18 fighter jet has gone missing.
