Indonesia T-50 fighter jet crashes, 2 pilots killed — reports

Two dead as jet crashes at Indonesia air show

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A T-50 Golden Eagle fighter jet, similar to those recently delivered to the Philippine Air Force (PAF), crashed in Indonesia killing two pilots, local media reported.

READ: Philippine Air Force welcomes 2 new fighter jets

Video circulating on social media showed a fighter plane performing manoeuvres in the skies above Yogyakarta before spiralling toward the ground at speed and disappearing from view.

Seconds later a thick, dark plume of smoke rose beyond the horizon, as people in the video can be heard screaming.

Indonesian air force spokesman Dwi Badarmanto confirmed a T-50 Golden Eagle fighter plane had crashed during a demonstration.

“Two pilots died,” he told news website Detik.

It remains unclear if anyone on the ground was killed or injured.

A major military air show had been underway this weekend in Yogyakarta.

In June, a Hercules C-130 crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Medan, the largest city on Sumatra island, killing 142 people and causing widespread destruction.

On Nov. 27, the PAF received two FA-50 fighter/trainer jets from South Korea as part of its modernization program. The FA-50 and T-50 are variants of the same military aircraft manufactured by the Korea Aerospace Industries.

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