Two Swiss F/A-18 fighter jets escort Dutch PC-12 plane out of Swiss airspace

After a warning from France that a plane from the Netherlands wanted to cross Swiss airspace without radio communications, two F/A-18 fighter jets took off.

The Swiss Air Force escorted a Dutch plane without radio communication into Italian airspace on Sunday morning. There were sonic booms from the two F/A-18 fighter jets involved in the “hot mission”.

At 10:53 on Sunday 25 September, the Dutch plane, a Pilatus PC-12 registered PH-BWP, flew over the border near Waldshut in the direction of Switzerland, the Swiss army reported. According to the report, Switzerland was informed 12 minutes earlier by French authorities that an aircraft without radio contact was in the airspace above Colmar.

Finally, at 11:01, a patrol of two F/A-18 fighter jets took off from Payerne in canton Vaud. The patrol reportedly reached the Dutch aircraft shortly afterwards in the area of ??Samedan in canton Grisons and succeeded in persuading the pilot to establish radio contact. The plane was eventually escorted into Italian airspace west of Lake Garda.

The army assumes a pilot error, as army spokesman Daniel Reist said when interviewed by the Keystone-SDA news agency. However, a flight without radio contact is always associated with dangers for the population. For example, the aviation authority cannot tell the pilot if he is flying too low. “It is important to intervene quickly to avoid accidents,” says Reist.

The Pilatus PC-12 owned by transportation and investment group Wim P Bosman took off from Budel in The Netherlands and was flying to Rome Ciampino.