The US Air Force has grounded its fleet of T-38C training jets after the second fatal crash involving the plane in eight days, the military said.

Two pilots were killed on Thursday when their plane crashed in Texas on what the air force called a routine mission.

The plane belonged to a base that trains pilots for Nato.

The names and nationalities of the pilots have not been released. Two US pilots were killed on 23 April when their T-38C crashed in Mississippi.

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The US Air Force has about 500 of the planes and is grounding them all until it knows the causes of both crashes.

The T-38C is a high-altitude, supersonic jet that has been used since 1961 to train fighter pilots.

Pilots from 13 Nato countries train at the Sheppard Air Force Base outside Wichita Falls in Texas.

(BBC)

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