YANGON - A CHINESE-MADE fighter jet crashed and caught fire during a training flight in army-ruled Myanmar on Friday, killing the pilot, witnesses said.
The crash was one of at least 10 fatal accidents involving military aircraft in Myanmar since 1999.
The single-seat F-7 supersonic jet crashed at the Mingaladon Airbase in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, after the landing gear failed and the pilot was unable to eject, an official at the nearby international airport told Reuters.
Little is known about the size of the secretive country's air force, but it is widely believed to have several squadrons of ageing Chinese fighter jets, most following designs based on Russian-made MiGs.
A Moscow newspaper reported in December that Myanmar had agreed to buy 20 MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia for US$572.2 million (S$803 million). Military officials in both Russia and Myanmar declined to comment on the report.
A military source in Yangon said Russia had supplied 12 MiG-29 fighters to Myanmar in 2001. -- REUTERSSource :http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_480856.html
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