A German Tornado combat jet crashed into a cliff in the Swiss Alps Thursday, killing one pilot, police said. Both crew members ejected. Rescuers found them on a glacier near the crash site. One had died. The other was injured, but was rescued, according to the Bern canton police, according to AP. The plane crashed at around 3 p.m. (1300GMT) near the village of Lauterbrunnen in central Switzerland and exploded, the police statement said. Jost Brunner, mayor of Lauterbrunnen, said he was on a walk when he saw the plane flying at low altitude through the valley. «It started to climb only when the valley narrowed,» he told Swiss radio. «It disappeared behind Schwarzmoench mountain.» The jet, which was on a routine flight, came from Corsica and made a refueling stop at the Swiss military airport of Emmen in central Switzerland, Juerg Nussbaum, spokesman for the Swiss Air Force, told The Associated Press. It was on an authorized route, he added. The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation said the jet took off in Nimes, in the south of France, and its destination was Lechfeld, Germany. The German Defense Ministry confirmed that one of its aircraft had crashed in Switzerland, but was unable to give more details. -- SPA
