Trainer jet crashes onto Tak golf course, co-pilot badly hurt

Following a report of a plane crash at 2.30pm, Sam Ngao district police rushed to the scene along with fire engines. 

They found wreckage of the aircraft strewn in the branches of a tree and across the ground at the golf course. 

Rescue workers found first pilot Group Captain Jirasak Ngamwongsri lying seriously injured on the ground, while co-pilot Squadron Leader Krerkkiat Suwanno was pronounced dead after being taken down from a tree. 

The jet aircraft flew from the Takhlee Base in Nakhon Sawan and was passing over Tak to join others at the Wing 41 Base in Chiang Mai. 
It descended rapidly after passing over the dam and pilots battled to regain height before it crashed into a tree and burst into flames, according to an eyewitness on the ground. 

An investigation into the crash has begun.