On November 23, 2020 at the end of the morning, a plane which was supposed to land at Sion airport experienced a failure of its landing gear. After having circled for a long time in the Valais sky, escorted by two F / A-18s, the plane was finally able to land without any injuries being to be deplored. A major back-up system has been put in place.
The plane was on the Sion> La Môle / St-Tropez flight. The pilot and his co-pilot were alone on board. Before arriving at his destination, the pilot noticed a problem with the landing gear of his aircraft which was not fully deploying. He therefore made a U-turn to regain Valais.
In an attempt to resolve the damage and burn as much fuel as possible to reduce its weight and reduce the risk of fire when it landed, the plane flew in the Valais sky for nearly four hours, escorted by two F / A-18 of the Swiss Army.
On the ground, firefighters, medical personnel and police were deployed to receive the aircraft and its crew in the best possible safety conditions.
Around 2:30 p.m., the plane landed smoothly on the runway at Sion airport before tipping over on its nose, the nose gear not having fully extended.
Immediately, the firefighters intervened to spread a carpet of foam around the plane. The pilots were able to extract themselves from the aircraft. No injuries are to be deplored.
This intervention required the engagement of the Cantonal Police and the Regional Police of the towns of the center, 15 firefighters from Sion airport with 5 intervention vehicles, 2 ambulances and a SMUR vehicle. Two inspectors from the SESE (Swiss Security Investigation Service) went to the scene.
