HANOI – A pilot was killed after a military fighter jet crashed in northern Vietnam during a training session on Tuesday, state media reported.

The plane – a Russian-made Sukhoi Su-22 belonging to the People’s Army of Vietnam air force – joined the training session at around midday before crashing at a military airport in mountainous Yen Bai province, according to Vietnam News Agency.

“The pilot was ordered to parachute out of the jet but he tried to save the plane... and he died,” a news report by Vietnam News Agency said, without stating the cause of the crash.

Although Vietnam’s civilian aviation sector has a strong safety record, accidents involving military aircraft are more common.

In October 2016, a military helicopter crashed in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, killing three pilots on board.

There were three other accidents involving military aircraft earlier that year, killing 11 people.

In one of the country’s worst military accidents, 19 people were killed after a Russian-made Mi-171 helicopter crashed in the capital Hanoi during a training exercise in 2014. AFP