Basejumper.com - archive

http://www.blick.ch/...schweiz/artikel60308

TRANSLATION:

"Pilot did not believe in his rescue

BERN - The surviving pilot must have had a huge guardian angel: his parachute got hung up on a ledge.

There was no more chance for one of the pilots in the crash of the German Tornado fighter jet. Only his dead body could be recovered. The other officer however had, according to his rescuer, a lot of luck. After he ejected his seat, his parachute got hung up at about 100m below the crash location on the north face of the Aebniflue.

Gusts had obviously pushed his parachute into the cliff face, said Rescue Medic Bruno Durrer. If the parachute would not have got hung up, the German would probably not have survived. Durrer had himself lowered down to the pilot on a long winch wire together with a second rescuer. He was conscious and talkative. <<He said to us, that he never believed, that it would be possible to be rescued from where he was>>, said the Medic.

They immediately secured the pilot, then cut the lines of his parachute and flew him out. Falling ice and stones made the rescue operation more difficult.

The pilot came out of this with only minor injuries. Why the Tornado of the German Air force smashed into the cliff face is not yet known. Eye witnesses observed that the machine was travelling very low through the Lauterbrunnen Valley."


Another article says that they were on their way back from an exercise on Corsica in the Mediterranean and that they refuelled in Switzerland and were following a navigational course...

Pilot- "How much you wanna bet i fly through this valley with my eyes closed?"

Copilot- "I bet 10 euro that you crash and burn!"

Pilot- "10 EURO! Youve got yourself a bet!"

Mmmm, 1 pilot died so a little bit less of smileys would be nice....

Ronald

THERE ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

1 guy died.
respect for the dead.
Ronald was just pointing it out.

Your reply could not have been dumber.

You are right, especially if I would have aimed my laughs directly at the deceased pilot, but in fact the little joke made me laugh and I responded accordingly...

I could and maybe should have been more cautious as this is a public forum

Peace, J.

Throwing some wood on the fire...
A jet fighter is designed to kill people, so there is a certain point of irony when the driver of this killingmachine gets killed by a non moving piece of big rock

kinda. i bet you more than half of all Military pilots have no desire whatsoever of ever killing anyone. while the machine is designed to win a stuggle of some retarded government reason, the pilots dont fly these bad ass machines to win for king and country, they fly them because they are FUN AS HELL. I would never join the military, but if i was promised, seriously, (non of the shit nipple recruition lies the moron US throws out there) that i would fly a navy, army, or air force fast mover, i would sing up for 10 years in a second.

I don't understand how he wouldn't have lived if he didn't get hung up on the ledge. What am I missing?

I'm with you Ronald!

I've been following these forums for a few years now...

Now I'm done!

CJ out!

The part where he would have tumbled down a thousand odd feet of rock?

Over 90% of military aviation fatalities occur during peacetime or in training exercises, with the primary cause being pilot error.
Same cause as most basejumping mishaps...

We had a quote in the Tomcat community... "Not inherently dangerous, just very unforgiving."

They're always hiring... right now they're offering 10-year contracts after you earn your wings. Given that it can take up to 36 months to get your wings, that's 13 years of job security.
Unless you're craving knee-shaking landings in bad weather onto pitching decks in a high sea-state at night, I recommend the USAF... they have the cooler toys and bigger budgets. Plus their chicks are hotter...

No more irony than when somebody who jumps off of cliffs for fun finally goes in.

Different communities, different reasons... still people.

no dude, you dont understand. they are 'hireing' anyone that wants to fly, by telling them that they can fly. you have to be in the tope 1% to fly. im good, but im not that good.

(im a better stick and rudder pilot than any of those fast mover drivers, but i cant do school work)