TAIPEI: A Taiwanese military training aircraft crashed on Tuesday during a simulated engine failure exercise, killing the two pilots on board, the defence ministry said in a statement.
The T-34 plane crashed at 8:08am (0008 GMT) at the northern end of the runway at Gangshan Air Base in the island’s southern port city of Kaohsiung, the ministry said.
The Air Force has set up a task force to investigate the cause of the crash. The pilots have been identified only by their rank and surnames, Lieutenant Colonels Lu and Guo.
A spokesperson for the Air Force declined to provide further details when contacted by AFP.
In January, a F-16 fighter jet crashed into the sea off eastern Taiwan during a routine training mission. The pilot is believed to have ejected from the aircraft but has not been found.