A small plane crashed on Thursday afternoon in Hafnarfjörður, south of Reykjavík, killing the two men on board. The plane issued a distress call and subsequently became unreachable. Police and emergency responders were dispatched immediately, locating where the plane had crash-landed on the rough terrain of a lava field around 16:00. The pilot and his companion were dead upon the arrival of the emergency responders.
The victims of the crash were two flight instructors from the Icelandic Flight Academy. Reportedly, one man was in his 20s and the other in his 30s. The craft they were flying was a Tecnam P2002-JF. The Flight Academy received five new planes of this make earlier this year for training purposes. The cause of the accident is as of yet unknown, but the Icelandic Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation in cooperation with the police to ascertain what might have happened.
Out of respect for the dead, the Icelandic Flight Academy, as well as its parent, the Reykjavík Technical College, were closed on Friday. Crisis counseling services are being offered to students and staff alike.