Speed record attempt ends in tragedy

AN ATTEMPT to break an aviation speed record went horribly wrong yesterday when a small “experimental” plane crashed through an apartment building in the Swiss city of Basel, killing the pilot and injuring at least three other people, authorities said.

The crash happened shortly after the single-engine plane took off from EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, located across the border in France, authorities said.

It went through the attic of an apartment building in the north-west of the city before coming to a fiery rest on a playground in a park.