Switzerland plane crash: Pilot among 3 dead in tourist aircraft's accident in Swiss mountains

Three people died when their light aircraft crashed on Saturday morning in Switzerland's Ponts-de-Martel area close to the French border, the Swiss police said.

The crash occurred around 10:20 in the morning local time (0820 GMT) in a forest near the village of La Combe Dernier in the canton of Neuchâtel, the local police said.

The pilot and his two passengers died at the scene of the accident. 

Rescue operations proved difficult because the crash occurred on particularly steep terrain, the police said.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known, but an investigation has been launched, they added.

The aircraft, which had a Swiss registration, had taken off on a sightseeing trip from the neighbouring Chaux-d-Fonds airfield. Police said in a statement that a rescue and recovery operation had been started but added that the accident site in the Neuchatel Mountains was in extremely steep terrain, making the task more difficult.