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ALOR SETAR: Thousands of Universiti Utara Malaysia students and theirparents watched in horror as a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) PilatusPC-7 exploded and caught fire in midair during a solo airshow at10.15am on Thursday.
The 33-year-old pilot was manoeuvring theaircraft to thrill the crowd at the opening of the UUM convocation expowhen the plane’s engine compartment, in front of the cockpit, explodedand caught fire.
The crowd watched helplessly as the pilotbailed out of the diving plane, with thick black smoke trailing fromthe engine compartment, before it crashed behind the Bukit TanggaMalaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) nextto the UUM campus.
Although the pilot managed to eject from the plane, his body, still strapped to the seat, was found some 10m from the wreckage.
Policepersonnel inspecting the wreckage of the RMAF Pilatus PC-7 after itcrashed behind the Bukit Tangga Malaysian Agricultural Research andDevelopment Institute (Mardi) next to the UUM campus on Thursday.
The body was airlifted from the scene to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital for a post-mortem.
A police spokesman said the plane had earlier left the RMAF College in Kepala Batas, Alor Setar, to perform at the airshow.
RMAF has used the aircraft since 1982 to train its pilots at its flight college.
InSeptember last year, two RMAF pilots were killed when their PilatusPC-7 crashed and burst into flames at the Langkawi InternationalAirport.
The plane had taken off from the Sultan Abdul HalimAirport in Kepala Batas, Alor Setar but crashed in an open area some90m from the tarmac at the Langkawi airport.
Currently, the RMAF has 30 units of the Swiss-made PC-7 Mk I and eight units of the older version of the PC-7 Mk II.
今天早上,马来空军一架PC-7教练机在一场飞行表演时,在千多名观众面前在半空中起火爆炸。机师虽然成功弹离机身,但不幸牺牲。(R.I.P)去年九月, 马国空军也有一架PC-7教练机在兰卡威机场起火坠毁,导致两名空军机师牺牲。目前马国还拥有
30架瑞士造的PC-7MKII和8 架MKI。
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