Saturday, January 23, 2010

Burmese fighter jet crashes, pilot killed

 
Friday, 22 January 2010 14:57 Khaing Suu (Breaking news)

New Delhi (Mizzima) - A Chinese made F-7 fighter jet crashed Friday at Rangoon’s Minglardon International Airport, killing the pilot, according to a source in the Air Force.

An officer with Burma’s Air Force told Mizzima on Friday that the plane crash-landed in the absence of any landing gear being deployed, killing the pilot, Pyae Phyo Myo.

“The jet fighter was from the 502nd Air Force Battalion. Since it was a fighter jet, there was only the pilot and he died,” said the officer, who requested anonymity.

The officer said the weather on Friday was fine and speculates the cause of the accident could be either technical malfunction or pilot error.

"It is true that there was a crash. We cannot tell anything about it, it is handled by intelligence. Right now officials are very busy at the airport [Minglardon]," a police officer at the airport told Mizzima.

Minglardon Airport, in addition to serving as an Air Force base, is also a civil aviation hub, trafficking both international and domestic flights.