84°F
weather icon Clear

Swiss air force team apologizes for fly-by in wrong place

BERLIN — The commander of the Swiss air force’s aerial display team has apologized after his unit performed a low-altitude pass over the wrong municipality.

Residents of Langenbruck looked up in vain Saturday while expecting to see Switzerland’s Patrouille Suisse squadron swoop by to mark the centenary of the death of local aviation pioneer Oskar Bider.

The team flew over nearby Muemliswil instead.

Switzerland’s Defense Ministry said Monday that the formation hadn’t practiced the maneuver and got distracted by an unauthorized helicopter in the area. The ministry says the team leader spotted what he thought was a tent for the Langenbruck celebration that turned out to be for a yodeling festival in Muemliswil.

The ministry said the Patrouille Suisse team’s red and white F-5E Tiger II jets aren’t equipped with GPS devices.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Trump says he will meet Putin next Friday in Alaska

President Donald Trump said Friday that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next Friday in Alaska to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, a potential major milestone after expressing weeks of frustration that more was not being done to quell the fighting.

Apollo 13 moon mission leader James Lovell dies at 97

It was during his last mission — immortalized by the popular film starring Tom Hanks — that he came to embody for the public the image of the cool, decisive astronaut.

What to know as Israel considers reoccupying Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering ordering the full reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.

Former ‘Superman’ actor says he’s joining ICE

In a recent post on social media, the 59-year-old shared his thoughts on America’s immigration system, as well as revealing the fact that he recently joined the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as an official ICE agent.

MORE STORIES