Chinese pilot killed during military exercise in East Sea

The Chinese military has just admitted that a navy pilot has died during a military exercise in the East Sea.

According to the People's Liberation Army newspaper, pilot Tang Xiaofeng died when his fighter jet crashed into the sea.

Before the crash, the plane was participating in a low-altitude attack exercise.

Chinese military fighter jets - Photo: SCMP

This is the first time that Chinese state media has officially acknowledged the death of a naval pilot in an accident during a training exercise.

However, the People's Liberation Army newspaper did not provide specific information about the time, location and reason for the accident.

Previously, 81.cn also posted information about this incident. This website quoted a pilot named Zhang Wei saying that pilot Tang was the commander of a group of pilots participating in the exercise.

Zhang said that despite witnessing the plane crash into the sea, the other pilots continued the exercise. Zhang complained that his team had to fly a rather old aircraft.

81.cn then posted some photos showing the pilots starting to fly the more modern J-11 aircraft during training exercises.

Previously, the Chinese government always avoided reporting military aircraft accidents during training, unless the plane crashed on the ground and was discovered by residents.

In May 2013, the Chinese Ministry of Defense confirmed a North Sea Fleet plane crash, but did not say whether there were any fatalities.

According to Tuoi Tre