A Chinese air force jet crashed into houses during a training mission in central China, killing one person on the ground and injuring two others, state media said.
The report was unusual because China generally keeps military accidents under wraps or emphasizes the heroic role of the pilot in avoiding casualties on the ground.
Foreign governments have over the past few months complained of reckless flying by Chinese fighter jets they said endangered crews on their own military surveillance planes.
The People’s Daily on Thursday reported that the J-7 aircraft went down near an airport in Hubei Province.
The pilot ejected safely, but “some residential buildings were damaged,” the report said.
It did not say when the crash occurred.
The pilot and those injured were taken to hospital, it said, adding that the cause of the crash is under investigation.
The J-7 is an older, single-engine aircraft with its origins in the Soviet MiG-21 dating from the 1950s. It was produced for almost 50 years until production ended in 2013.
Large numbers remain in service to provide regional air protection.
China also sold an export version, the F-7, to more than a dozen countries, many of which have since retired the planes.
China’s civil aviation industry has in past few months come under scrutiny following the still-unexplained crash of a China Eastern Airlines passenger jet on March 21 in which all 132 people on board were killed.
Moreover, a Tibet Airlines flight with 122 people on board was on May 12 departing from the southwestern city of Chongqing when it veered off the runway and caught fire. No one was killed, but several people sustained minor injuries.
Australia and Canada have raised concerns about reckless flying by Chinese fighter pilots.
In a statement on Wednesday last week, the Canadian military said that Chinese planes tried to divert a Canadian long-range patrol aircraft from its path and that the crew had to change direction quickly to avoid a collision.
Australia said a Chinese fighter jet on May 26 committed a dangerous act of aggression against an Australian military plane conducting aerial surveillance in international airspace over the South China Sea.
The Chinese J-16 accelerated and cut in front of the Australian plane, releasing chaff with small bits of aluminum designed to confuse radars that was sucked into the latter’s engine, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said.
China has defended the actions of its pilots and blamed foreign countries for conducting close-in surveillance of its territory to contain Chinese development.
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