Two crew die in UAE army plane crash

Two crew die in UAE army plane crash
This file photo, an Emirati soldier walks past a Rafale French jet fighter at a military base near Abu Dhabi, UAE. (AFP)
Updated 15 May 2016
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Two crew die in UAE army plane crash

Two crew die in UAE army plane crash

ABU DHABI/DUBAI: A United Arab Emirates military aircraft crashed on Sunday during a training flight in the Gulf country killing both crew on board, the armed forces said in a statement carried by the WAM state news agency.
A pilot and a trainer were killed in the crash, the statement said without specifying where in the Gulf country the aircraft came down.
An investigation has begun “to establish the causes of the accident,” the statement added, also without revealing the make of plane involved.
The military’s general command announced the accident in a brief statement Sunday. It says the pilot and an instructor were killed.
The statement did not say what type of aircraft was involved or where or when the crash happened.
The seven-state Emirates federation has one of the Arab world’s best-equipped militaries. It is part of the US-led coalition fighting the Daesh group in Syria and Iraq, and a Saudi-led force battling Shiite rebels in Yemen.
Its armed forces include F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter planes as well as several types of transport aircraft, helicopters and trainers.
“The accident resulted in the death of the crew consisting of a pilot and instructor and authorities are conducting investigations to determine the cause of the accident,” the report said.
The report did not disclose any further details including the type of aircraft or when and where the crash occurred.