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Sun, Jan 16, 2005

Swiss Government Grounds Pilatus PC-21 Program

Action comes on the heels of second prototype crash, test pilot killed

The Federal Office For Civil Aviation, Switzerland's counterpart to the US' Federal Aviation Administration, has grounded the PC-21 military training aircraft program indefinitely after the crash of the second prototype aircraft.

"We have banned the second plane from flying," FOCA spokesman Daniel Goring told swissinfo on Friday, after the crash which killed the company's chief test pilot and seriously injured one person on the ground.

The decision means more trouble for the company. Pilatus had plans to enter production of the aircraft later this year, and produce 500 units over the next 20 years. The aircraft had only recently been granted its airworthiness certificate late in 2004.

The prototype that crashed was undergoing test flights in central Switzerland on Thursday, and eyewitnesses reported the plane banked suddenly before hitting the ground and exploding. The pilot was killed and a woman on the ground was injured and is undergoing treatment at the Zurich University Hospital.

FMI: www.pilatus-aircraft.com

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