A plane crash that killed a Myanmar military pilot on Wednesday morning was caused by “technical failure,” according to local sources and junta-controlled state media.
The military lost contact with the plane at 10:43am and later confirmed that it had gone down in southern Sagaing Region after leaving Mandalay’s Tada-U air force base earlier that morning, the regime announced on Wednesday afternoon.
According to official reports, the pilot was flying a non-combat training mission. The plane was believed to be a Chinese-built single-seat ground-attack aircraft, known as an A-5.
A rescue plane located the aircraft near Yae Myet Gyi Lake, east of the village of Ohn Taw and about 30km northwest of Tada-U. The pilot, Captain Hein Htet Aung, was killed in the crash, the regime said in a statement.
According to resistance forces in Sagaing Region, the plane was one of two that had been deployed frequently in operations in the region’s Wetlet Township, north of Ohn Taw, since last month.
“That plane had been flying over our region nearly every day since a military helicopter brought troops here a while ago,” a member of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Wetlet told Myanmar Now on Wednesday.
He added that while there were no airstrikes reported in the township that day, a junta plane could be seen flying over several villages in the area earlier in the morning.
Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify whether the plane that crashed was the one described by the PDF member.
An Ohn Taw local told Myanmar Now that the military brought rescue teams to the area to search for the pilot after the plane was located. A rescue volunteer who did not want to be identified said the search ended around 2pm.
The military has relied heavily on helicopters and fighter jets to carry out its operations in parts of Sagaing Region and Chin, Karen and Karenni states where it has faced strong resistance to its rule since seizing power last year.
In June of last year, at least 13 passengers, including an influential monk and six military officers, were killed in a plane crash in Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region. The crash was reportedly due to bad weather and a communications blackout.
