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Sri Lankan air force training aircraft crashes, killing pilot and flight engineer

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan air force training aircraft crashed Monday, killing the pilot and flight engineer, an official said.

The Chinese-built PT-6 plane crashed during a training flight two minutes after taking off from the air force academy at China Bay base in the eastern city of Trincomalee, air force spokesperson Group Captain Dushan Wijesinghe said.

He said the bodies of the pilot and flight engineer, the only people on board, were recovered.

Wijesinghe did not say what caused the crash. He said air force commander Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa has appointed a special committee to investigate.

Sri Lanka uses PT-6 planes mainly to train new pilots. The China Bay base is a former British air base that came under attack by Japan during World War II.

Trincomalee is about 260 kilometres (165 miles) east of the capital, Colombo. Sri Lanka is a former British colony that gained independence in 1948.

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2021