Air accident investigators are probing the cause of an RAF crash that killed two crewmembers.

The Ministry of Defence employees died when their Tornado jet crashed in Argyllshire on Thursday.

The victims, who have not been named, were a pilot and weapons system operator and their next of kin have been informed.

Officials confirmed there were few remains of the Tornado F3, based in RAF Leuchars in Fife.

The aircraft struck a hill in Glen Kinglas during a routine training flight. The incident happened near the Rest and Be Thankful tourist spot outside Arrochar on the A83, 45 miles north west of Glasgow.

Search and rescue helicopters were dispatched from HMS Gannett naval base and RAF Lossiemouth to comb the area.

Firefighters tackled a blaze at the scene and a clean-up operation is expected to take a number of days.

An MoD spokesman said on Thursday: "It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the deaths of two RAF air crew from 43 Squadron, RAF Leuchars, in a Tornado F3 crash today.

"The aircraft crashed during a routine training flight at 11.45am at Glen Kinglas in Argyll.

"The next of kin have been informed and have requested a period of 24 hours grace before further details are released."

RAF Leuchars is home to two Tornado Squadrons - 111 Squadron and 43 Squadron. They operate the Tornado F3 aircraft, which has a crew of two, a pilot and a weapons system officer who controls the radar, missiles and defence systems. Both Leuchars squadrons saw action in Iraq - in 1991 in the Gulf War, and in 2003 in Operation Telic.

The F3 came into service with the RAF in the 1980s.