ISTANBUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish military training plane on Friday crashed in the western province of Izmir, killing two pilots, local media reported.

CNNTurk said that the plane, a SF-260D, crashed 23 minutes after taking off from Cigli 2nd Main Jet Base in the province.

Turkish military confirmed the deaths of two pilots on a training exercise.

"The wreck and the bodies of our two soldiers were found three kilometers north of the airport in the search and rescue operation carried out afterward," the Hurriyet daily quoted the Turkish military as saying in a statement.

An investigation into the incident has started, the military statement said.

It is the second crash involving the Turkish military this month, after a military helicopter went down on Feb. 10 in Afrin in northwestern Syria, leaving two pilots dead.

Turkish troops launched an operation in Afrin on Jan. 20 in a bid to drive out Kurdish militants from the town.