KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- An spokesman of the Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) said Thursday a two-seater Pilatus PC-7 trainer plane crashed in a paddy field at Kepala Batas near Alor Setar, northern Malaysia, Thursday afternoon.

    The two-seater aircraft crashed in a paddy field in Kampung Titi Besi at 2:11 p.m. local time, three minutes after taking off from the RMAF College in Kepala Batas, college commandant Ahmad Anuar Ahmad said.

    The crash of the Pilatus PC-7 trainer plane killed a trainee pilot and his instructor, according to the officer.

    "The instructor, a major, was in his 30s and married while the trainee, a lieutenant, was a bachelor," he said when approached byreporters at the scene of the crash.

    He said the family of the trainee, who was of Thai descent, had been informed of the incident.

    Efforts were being made to convey the news to the family of the instructor in Kuala Lumpur, he added.

    Ahmad Anuar said an investigation team would be set up to identify the cause of the crash.

    It is reported that the crash occurred when the aircraft was piloted by the trainee, who had clocked more than 100 flying hours.The trainee was scheduled to complete his training next February.

    Ahmad Anuar said the first of the bodies was removed from the aircraft at 3:45 p.m. and the second an hour later. The bodies hadbeen sent to the Alor Setar Hospital.

    He said the training route of RMAF trainee pilots would remain unchanged though there had been four crashes of this type of aircraft in many years.

    The crash is the fourth in three months in the country. On July12, a Bell-206 helicopter with seven people on board including Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Office Judson Sakai Tagal crashed at the foothills of Mt. Murud near Ba'Kelalan, east Malaysia, killing all of them.

    On Aug. 15, a Royal Malaysia Air Force's Nuri helicopter crashed also near Ba'Kelalan. Seven of the 10 people on board survived the crash.

    A Bell-206 helicopter with four people on board crashed about 70 nautical miles northeast of Kuching, capital of Sarawak State in east Malaysia on Sept. 3. Enditem