Four dead as plane hits home in Indonesia

An Indonesian air force plane has crashed into a home on the main island of Java, killing both people on board and two people in the house.

The plane was on a routine maintenance flight on Wednesday when it crashed near Abdul Rahman Saleh air force base in Malang, a hilly town in East Java province, said air force chief Air Marshal Agus Supriatna.

Supriatna said the pilot ejected from the Brazilian-made Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano plane before it crashed, but a technician failed to do so.

The pilot was found dead near a rice field about two kilometres from his parachute, while the technician's body was recovered from the plane's cockpit, which was buried in the rubble of the destroyed house.

He said a man and a woman living in the house died while being treated at a hospital.

Air force officials had previously believed that the technician ejected before the plane crashed.

A neighbour who witnessed the crash, Slamet, told an Indonesian television channel that the plane appeared to be nose-diving out of control with smoke billowing from its tail when it crashed.

Like many Indonesians, Slamet goes by a single name.

The light attack aircraft is one of 16 bought by the air force in 2013.