RMAF aircraft crashes near UUM campus
By EDDIE CHUAeddiechua@thestar.com.my
GEORGE TOWN: A Royal Malaysian Air Force training aircraft Pilatus PC-7 crashed behind the Bukit Tangga Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) near University Utara Malaysia, Sintok, on Thursday morning.
The fate of its flight instructor and trainee pilot is still unknown and police mounted a search and rescue operation to locate the two.
Eyewitnesses told police the plane crashed and burst into flames at 10.15am.
Police arrived at the scene to small fires and a smouldering wreckage.
A police spokesman said the plane had earlier left the RMAF College in Kepala Batas, Alor Setar, on a routine training flying mission when the incident occurred.
The cause of the crash is still unknown but the Department of Civil Aviation and RMAF have been informed of the accident, he said.
RMAF has used the aircraft since 1982 to train its pilots at its flight college.
In September last year, two RMAF pilots were killed when their Pilatus PC-7 crashed and burst into flames at the Langkawi International Airport.
The plane had taken off from the Sultan Abdul Halim Airport in Kepala Batas, Alor Setar but crashed in an open area some 90m from the tarmac at the Langkawi airport.
Currently, the RMAF has 30 units of the Swiss-made PC-7 Mk I and eight units of the older version of the PC-7 Mk II. http://mforum1.cari.com.my/viewthread.php?tid=475042&extra=page%3D1
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