One person died and at least two others were injured on Thursday after a Chinese fighter jet crashed into buildings in central China’s Hubei province.
The crash triggered a fire that engulfed adjacent houses, spreading fear and panic in the area.
The pilot ejected safely from the J-7 fighter jet following which the out-of-control aircraft crashed into a building in the Xiangyang area of Hubei, setting adjacent houses on fire, media reports said.
The accident occurred near the Laohekou airport in Xiangyang, used primarily to train new fighter pilots for the Chinese air force.
The pilot and at least two other persons on the ground were taken to a nearby hospital with injuries.
“Videos circulating online show flames and smoke billowing from what appeared to be the crash site, while the residential building was reduced to rubble,” a Chinese state media report said.
A video posted by the official news agency, Xinhua showed several houses on fire at the scene.
State broadcaster CCTV’s military channel reported that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force’s J-7 fighter jet had crashed during training.
The cause of the crash and whether there are more casualties are being investigated, CCTV Military reported.
Emergency department personnel and fire fighters had rushed to the crash site, the Xinhua report said.
“Laohekou Airport is now mainly used as a training site for new fighter pilots from the Guangzhou Military Region Air Force. The airport, which has a 5,960-metre (19,500-foot) runway, stopped serving civil aviation routes after the Liuji Airport in Xiangyang opened in 1989,” the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
There have been several other cases of fighter jets crashing during training flights in China, the SCMP report said.
In 2015, a Chinese air force pilot parachuted to safety moments before his aircraft crashed into a hillside. Two years before that, a military pilot died when his fighter jet crashed during night training in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang.
