CAIRO: An Egyptian Mig21 military plane that was on a training flight, crashed Wednesday morning in the village of Balanh, near the southern city of Aswan and its pilot was reported to have been killed in the accident. The Mig took off from Daraow military airport to finish a training round and return back to the base, but the pilot crashed soon after takeoff, officials said. A military source was quoted in al-Badeel newspaper as saying that the pilot “suffered from a type of fainting while in the air.” The source said no prior contact with the pilot took place before the crash at 8:15 AM and indicates that he suffered a blackout and crashed. The plane left a three meter in diameter hole in the ground. Eyewitnesses were first to report the crash after a number of locals saw the incident from the ground. Police and military personnel arrived at the crash site and forced a security cordon, preventing anyone from approaching the plane until the investigations are finished. More is expected to be released as the investigation unfolds into the crash.
