Chinese fighter jet crashes at airshow
Beijing, Oct 14, 2011 (PTI) A Chinese FBC-1 fighter jet today crashed and burst into flames during manoeuvres at an air show in northwest China, but the pilot ejected before the aircraft hit the ground.
The state-run China Central Television (CCTV) showed live video footage of the fighter plunging from the sky and bursting into flames when it hit the ground at the airshow in Shaanxi Province.
The FBC-1 is mainstay of the Chinese Air Force and is being produced as a joint Sino-Pakistan development project that took off in 1999.
The TV showed the pilot ejecting and parachuting shortly before the fighter nose-dived to the ground and exploded.
There have been no reports of casualties on the ground, but witnesses said they saw the pilot''s parachute did not open fully and it was not clear whether he was injured.
"The fighter had some malfunction and investigation team has been sent to the spot," government-run Xinhua news agency said quoting officials at the airshow.
People''s Daily newspaper said some 100 foreign and domestic aircraft are on display at the airshow. Around 30 aircraft are putting on air display.
US, Swedish and Hungarian aerobatic teams have been invited to participate in the three-day show where 100,000 spectators are expected.
The Chinese Air Force has been faced with a number of accidents in recent times. In 2007, a military aircraft crashed in southern China after a mid-air explosion.
In June last year, an early warning aircraft crashed in eastern China killing all 50 people on board. Two months before this crash a jet fighter came down on the island of Hainan after a mid-air explosion.