Swiss Government Grounds Pilatus PC-21 Program | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-10.06.25

AirborneNextGen-
10.07.25

Airborne-Unlimited-10.08.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-10.09.25

AirborneUnlimited-10.10.25

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

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.13.25): Homing [ICAO]

Homing [ICAO] The procedure of using the direction-finding equipment of one radio station with the emission of another radio station, where at least one of the stations is mobile, >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (10.13.25)

Aero Linx: European Regions Airline Association (ERA) The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) represents a diverse membership of over 50 airlines and more than 150 associate>[...]

ANN FAQ: Q&A 101

A Few Questions AND Answers To Help You Get MORE Out of ANN! 1) I forgot my password. How do I find it? 1) Easy... click here and give us your e-mail address--we'll send it to you >[...]

NTSB Prelim: CubCrafters Carbon Cub

While On Short Final, About 300 Ft, The Pilot Performed A Forced Landing Near Trees On September 7, 2025, about 0932 eastern daylight time, a CubCrafters Carbon Cub EX airplane, N4>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.14.25): Severe Icing

Severe Icing The rate of ice accumulation is such that ice protection systems fail to remove the accumulation of ice and ice accumulates in locations not normally prone to icing, s>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC