Major General Soe Tin Latt, the junta’s southern air force chief, and a co-pilot were killed when their Eurocopter crashed at the Hmawbi air base in Yangon on Friday, according to air force defectors.
A female pilot and a mechanic were seriously injured, former personnel told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
Regime spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told VOA Burmese that bad weather caused the crash.
Soe Tin Latt headed Magwe and Myitkyi air bases being promoted to the southern air force command, Nay Win Aung, a former member of the air force, on Friday told the Breaking Brainwashed YouTube channel with another defector who has joined the civil disobedience movement.
The channel was set up by a former member of the armed forces, Ko Htet Myat.
The personnel said three Eurocopters have crashed and one has been shot down by anti-regime forces.
In late January, the Karen National Liberation Army and its allies shot down a Eurocopter in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, killing Brigadier General Aye Min Naung, Colonel Soe Tun Lwin and three other personnel.
Eurocopters also crashed near Naypyitaw and Meiktila airbases in March and June last year, Nay Win Aung said.
By January, at least 10 junta aircraft had been shot down by the anti-regime groups since the 2021 coup.
