The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has begun investigations into yesterday's crash involving an Airnorth Embraer EMB-120 turboprop at Darwin Airport.

The investigator in charge, David Hood, will conduct a briefing on the incident at 14:00hr today, says the ATSB.

"Officials from the ATSB arrived last night at Darwin and visited the site this morning," says a spokesman from Airnorth, a regional carrier based in Darwin. The cause of the incident is not known yet, he adds.

In yesterday's incident, the EMB-120, registration VH-ANB, crash landed at Darwin Airport at 10:10hr after experiencing difficulties on a routine training flight.

The two pilots on board died in the incident. Airnorth says they were experienced in flying the aircraft.

"We will be continuing to provide our regular commercial services to our customers and thank our staff, our customers and the many who have expressed their support," says Airnorth's CEO Michael Bridge.

The remaining aircraft in the carrier's fleet have not been grounded, and operations are proceeding normally, says the spokesman.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news