Sri Lanka Air Force training aircraft crashes; 2 military personnel killed

Colombo: A Chinese-built training aircraft of the Sri Lanka Air Force crashed on Monday shortly after take-off, killing the pilot and an officer, the air force spokesman said.

A PT-6 aircraft used for training pilots crashed shortly after takeoff from the Air Force station in Trincomalee, Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa, the Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force, said, the Daily Mirror website reported.

The aircraft, which was taken for an air test at the Sri Lanka Air Force Station China Bay, took off at 11:25 am and crashed at 11:27 am, Director of the Air Force Media Group Captain Dushan Wijesinghe said.

Confirming the deaths of a pilot and an engineer onboard the aircraft, he added that an investigation into the crash has been launched by the Sri Lanka Air Force, the News First portal reported.

Tamil-dominated Trincomalee is a port city on the northeast coast of Sri Lanka.