A Sri Lankan aircraft crashed Monday morning killing the two trainee pilots onboard, the country’s air force spokesman said.
The Chinese-built PT-6 plane crashed during a training session after taking off from the air force academy in the China Bay base in the eastern city of Trincomalee which is about 165 miles east of the capital Colombo, according to air force spokesman Group Captain Dushan Wijesinghe.
He said the bodies of the two pilots were recovered.
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Sri Lankan Air Force prop fighter aircraft perform in Colombo on March 3, 2017. (LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP via Getty Images)
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Wijesinghe did not elaborate on what caused the crash but said air force commander Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa has appointed a special investigation committee to probe the incident.
Sri Lanka uses the PT-6 planes mainly to train new pilots. The air force runs the academy at the China Bay base, a former British air base that came under attack during World War II.
Sri Lanka is a former British colony that gained independence in 1948.
