Training aircraft crashes in Lebanon, three feared dead

A small training aircraft with three people onboard crashed on Thursday in Lebanon's mountainous Keserwan district, north of the capital Beirut, aviation sources said. Initial reports suggested the pilot and two passengers were killed, the sources said. The minister of public works is at the airport and an official statement is expected soon.

A small training aircraft with three people onboard crashed on Thursday in Lebanon's mountainous Keserwan district, north of the capital Beirut, aviation sources said.

Initial reports suggested the pilot and two passengers were killed, the sources said. The Cessna 172 plane belonged to flight training firm Open Sky Aviation and had taken off from Beirut airport at 1.30 p.m. local time before crashing 20 minutes later in the village of Ghosta.

Open Sky could not immediately be reached for comment. The minister of public works is at the airport and an official statement is expected soon. (Writing by Maha El Dahan, Editing by Peter Graff, Barbara Lewis and Angus MacSwan)