The Croatian Defense Minister resigned Thursday after the death of two soldiers in a plane crash during training. "This is a great loss for the Croatian army , " the minister, Damir Krsticevic, told the press. "I resign" . "The important thing is that this is all under investigation," added the man, who was also one of the deputy prime ministers.
The accident killed the two occupants of a Czech-made aircraft, a Zlin, which crashed around 4 p.m. near the village of Donje Biljane, near the Adriatic coast and the city of Zadar. "It was an ordinary training flight , " the defense ministry said in a statement, without detailing the possible causes of the accident.
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The resigning minister is scheduled to meet with head of government Andrej Plenkovic on Friday, after calling him on the phone on Thursday, the government said. It was the second fatal accident for the Croatian Air Force in 2020.
In January, also during a training flight, two soldiers were killed in the crash of a military helicopter in the Adriatic Sea. The causes of the accident for the American-made aircraft, an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior from Bell Helicopter, have not been made public.