Two pilots onboard killed as US Navy aircraft crashes in Alabama

A two-seater US Navy Aircraft carrying two pilots crashed on Friday in a residential neighbourhood in Alabama, according to the US Navy.The training plane took off from Florida before crashing in an Alabama residential neighbourhood near the Gulf Coast killing both the crew members.

The T-6B Texan II aircraft crashed in Foley, Alabama, at approximately 5 pm CST today, the Navy said on its official Twitter handle.

Zach Harrell, a spokesperson for Commander, Naval Air Forces, said both people in the T-6B Texan II training plane died, but they weren't immediately releasing their names. 

A home and several cars caught fire after the plane crashed but the US Navy said it was not aware of any civilian casualities on the ground. 'We are not aware of any civilian casualties this time. The incident is currently under investigation. The Navy is cooperating fully with local authorities,' it said.

Firefighters were able to make 'a quick stop on the fire,' Foley Fire Chief Joey Darby was quoted as saying by local news outlets.

The crash occurred southeast of Mobile, near the city of Foley and the town of Magnolia Springs. Darby called the neighbourhood a 'heavily populated' residential area. No firefighters were injured, he added.

The plane had flown out of Naval Air Station Whiting Field, about 48.28 kilometers northeast of Pensacola, Florida, Navy spokeswoman Julie Ziegenhorn said.

The US Department of Defence and the Navy were set to handle the investigation, the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office tweeted.

There are 245 T-6Bs based at the Navy's two aviation training bases, Naval Air Station Whiting Field, which is located 24 miles northeast of Pensacola, Florida, and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. Six additional T-6B aircraft are stationed at the US Navy Test Pilot School in Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.

About 1,200 new pilots go through training there each year. The airfield is about 45 miles from the crash site.