Croatian Air Force Zlin 242L trainer aircraft crashed under unknown circumstances about half an hour after takeoff. Both pilots were killed.
At around 4 pm, police received a report that a plane had dropped off at Biljana Donje. Immediately after the alert, police officers were dispatched to the scene, and all other services, emergency services, firefighters, and all other relevant services were notified of the incident.
Croatia’s defense minister resigned Thursday after an air force training plane crashed in the southwest of the country, killing both crew members.
Damir Krsticevic said he is stepping down after another Croatian military aircraft, a helicopter, also crashed three months ago, killing two pilots.
“We have to be transparent” and take responsibility for the crashes, Krsticevic said.
The Defense Ministry ministry said the Zlin single-engine aircraft crashed at around 4 p.m. local time Thursday during a routine training flight. Officials did not say what might have caused the plane to go down in a thinly-populated near the central Adriatic town of Zadar.
Photos from the scene show the small plane’s wreckage in flames, partly wedged under a large bush near the walls of what appears to be a private house.
The plane had taken off from an air base at Zadar.
