MEDAK : Two Air Force pilots died when a trainer aircraft, identified as a Pilatus PC 7 Mk Il, crashed in Toopran, in Medak district on Monday.
Officials said that the aircraft took off from Dundigal airport in the suburbs of Hyderabad at 7 am and crashed into a pile of rocks at around 8.30 am.
Pilot Abhimanyu Rai and trainee pilot Vuvan Thain were burnt alive in the flames that engulfed the plane. The aircraft was completely gutted in the fire. The bodies were charred beyond recognition.
A technical fault is believed to have caused the crash. The IAF has ordered a Court of Inquiry to ascertain the cause of the accident.
The officials of Dundigal airport who got the information about the crash reached the spot in a helicopter. They informed the local police. The officials did not allow people within one km radius from the accident site, locals said.
The bodies were taken out of the gutted aircraft and a postmortem examination was conducted at the spot. After the postmortem examination, the bodies were shifted to Hyderabad by Air Force officials.