(Updates toll, adds quote)
JAKARTA, June 21 (Reuters) - An Indonesian air force plane crashed in a suburb of the capital Jakarta on Thursday, killing six people on board and three on the ground and setting eight houses on fire, an air force spokesman said.
The Fokker 27 turboprop plane crashed at 2.45 p.m. local time (0745 GMT) while trying to land after a training flight at Jakarta's Halim airport, which serves mainly as an air force base.
The only survivor on board was the co-pilot, who was injured, air force spokesman Azman Yunus said.
"The death toll so far is nine people. Six were from the Air Force. Three were civilians on the ground and one is in critical condition. The cause of the crash is not yet known," said a second air force spokesman, Agung Sasongko Jati.
"The communication from the airplane to the tower was normal. They only asked for permission to take off and land," Jati said. A senior air force official said an investigation was likely to take three months.
Later on Thursday, the tail fin and the plane's shell were clearly visible where they had ploughed into now burned-out houses a few blocks north of the runway.
Air accidents are common across the sprawling Indonesian archipelago. In May, a Russian passenger jet carrying 45 people crashed into the side of a volcano after taking off from the same airport. No survivors were found.. (Reporting by Andjarsari Paramaditha and Beawiharta; Editing by Matthew Bigg and Louise Ireland)
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