An American registered Piper Malibu crashed soon after take-off from Geneva today, killing the pilot. The aircraft had taken off for a flight to Zwartberg (Belgium). Video footage of the actual crash was posted on a Swiss website:
thelocal.ch: The accident occurred around 12.03pm.
The only person aboard died in the crash, police told Swiss broadcaster RTS.
The identity of the victim was not immediately released.
But the 20 Minutes newspaper identified the pilot as a 59-year-old dentist from the canton of Vaud who had two practices in Saint Sulpice and Cossonay.
Geneva police said the Piper Malibu plane took off from the Geneva airport at 11.57am heading for Belgium.
“My neighbour saw the plane plunge and crash behind trees,” a resident of the village of Sézenove told 20 Minutes.
“We heard a great noise since we were just 400 metres away.”