LONDON—The two crew of an RAF Tornado jet who were killed when their plane crashed during a routine training flight in Scotland were named by the Ministry of Defence on Friday.
The MoD said pilot Flt. Lt. Kenneth Thompson, 27, from the Glasgow area, and weapons systems officer Flt. Lt. Nigel Morton, 43, died in the accident on Thursday.
The two crew, from 43 Squadron based at RAF Leuchars in Fife, were flying in a Tornado F3 when it came down at Glen Kinglas, Argyll, near Loch Lomond.
An investigation is underway into what caused the crash at the scenic tourist spot.
Paying tribute to the men, Wing Commander David Hazell, 43 Squadron's commanding officer, said their deaths were a huge loss to the squadron and the Tornado F3 Force as a whole.
"However, it is nothing compared to that suffered by their families. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this dreadful time," he said.
One local resident said he had seen two Tornados flying low in the area shortly before the crash.
"We get jets flying over here on training exercises quite regularly. It's not unusual to see them and you definitely hear them," he told the BBC at the time.
"But today (Thursday) they seemed to be flying much lower than normal."
