MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - A flight instructor and a trainee are considered missing following a combat trainer crash in Ireland on Monday, a local newspaper reported citing the country's Air Corps officials.
According to the Irish Times newspaper, a Pilatus PC-9 combat trainer went on a routine training flight together with two other planes but did not return to a home base at the Casement airfield located southwest of Dublin.
A number of local residents had later reported seeing the aircraft in difficulty and preparing to make an emergency landing before it crashed in the mountains in Connemara, County Galway.
Emergency services, including a Coast Guard helicopter, ambulances and fire service personnel have been dispatched to the crash scene.
The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine two-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland.
The aircraft has been adopted as combat trainer by a number of countries, including Ireland, which has eight PC-9s in service with the Army Air Corps.
The PC9 has a generally good safety record, with only one fatal crash to date. A PC-9M Pilatus belonging to the Cypriot National Guard crashed on September 10, 2005 near the village of Kolossi in Cyprus, killing two pilots.
