(Chinese) Navy jet 'exploded in mid-air'

[oblivious]

This in my local paper, which is pay to read, but I can't find it anywhere else on the net. The news blackout seems to be almost total. It was first reported yesterday in the South China Morning Post. Part of that article is below.

Thursday, April 6, 2006

Navy jet 'exploded in mid-air'

CHOW CHUNG-YAN in Wenchang, Hainan

A villager who saw a military aircraft crash in northeast Hainan said yesterday the plane exploded in mid-air before wreckage rained down on a field of pepper trees.

Fu Tiecun - one of the few in the southern island province to have witnessed the crash - was working in his banana field when it happened. He said he saw one of three aircraft flying overhead suddenly catch fire. The plane hit the ground barely a dozen metres from where he was working.

"There were two explosions - one in mid-air and one on the ground....

Police arrived shortly afterwards and sealed off the area. They questioned Mr Fu and prevented him leaving Shancongcun village. The PLA naval aircraft, apparently a two-seater fighter trainer, crashed at about 2pm on Tuesday near the village, outside the town of Nanyang, 20km south of Wenchang.

http://www.scmp.com/topnews/ZZZEXOJ1DLE.html

The plane crash tore open a crater measuring about 3 square metres.


Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Plane crashes in Hainan

STAFF REPORTERS
A military plane crashed in the northeast of Hainan province yesterday but the authorities have imposed a news blackout, sources said.

The crash - apparently involving a training aircraft - happened at about 2pm near Wenchang but was not reported by official media. The number of casualties was not clear last night. An officer from Wenchang's Public Security Department said "authorities have block the release of information about the accident".

...Police sealed off the area.
http://www.scmp.com/topnews/ZZZACYJ1DLE.html