Pilots of missing Malaysian air force plane found dead

File photo of the Hawk fighter jet. (Photo: RMAF)

KUALA LUMPUR: The pilots of a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) jet that went missing north of Kuantan near the Pahang-Terengganu border have been found dead, Malaysian state media reported on Thursday (Jun 15).

The two pilots of the Hawk 108 fighter jet were found in a swamp near Chukai in Terengganu at 2.30pm on Thursday, according to the Bernama news agency.

The victims were identified as Major Hasri Zahari, 31, and Major Yazmin Mohamed Yusof, 39. Both airmen were found with their parachutes strapped on but the wreckage of the jet had yet to be found.

Major Hasri Zahari, 31, and Major Yazmi Mohamed Yusof, 39, both lost their lives after a Royal Malaysia Air Force plane crashed on Thursday (Jun 15). (Photo: Bernama)

Contact with the fighter jet was lost at 11.30am after the aircraft took off from the Kuantan airbase, according to the RMAF. A search and rescue operation was then launched.Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, in a Twitter message, expressed his condolences and called for an investigation into the cause of the crash.