Two royal Thai air force pilots killed in training aircraft crash

A Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) AT-6 light attack aircraft crashed during a training flight in northern Thailand on January 29, killing both pilots on board, the air force said.

The two-seat aircraft went down at around 10:30 a.m. local time in Ban Huay Fang village, Jom Thong district, in Chiang Mai province. The RTAF confirmed that officials were deployed to investigate the cause of the accident, Caliber.Az reports per Thai media. 

Rescue personnel arrived at the scene shortly after being alerted by the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Command Centre at 10:48 a.m. The crash site, located in a forested area nearly one kilometre from the nearest road, can only be accessed on foot via a hillside trail used by local villagers.

According to rescue workers, the aircraft was fully ablaze when teams arrived. Debris was scattered across an area of approximately 20 metres, and a crater around 10 metres deep was found at the impact site. The bodies of the two pilots were trapped inside the wreckage and had not been removed as authorities secured the area for further examination.

An official investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.

By Sabina Mammadli