A Saudi Arabian Tornado fighter crashed in the kingdom's Eastern Province during a training mission on Monday, but its crew survived, the defence ministry said.

The aircraft crashed at the King Abdul Aziz Airbase in Dhahran while on a "routine training mission," state news agency SPA quoted a ministry official as saying.

"The crew escaped the accident unharmed," the official said.

They said a "technical problem" caused the accident, and that a probe had been opened to find out the precisely what it was.

In December, A Saudi F-15 fighter crashed into Gulf waters during an exercise, killing its pilot.

Another F-15 crashed last April during a routine training exercise in the northwest of the Gulf kingdom, but its pilot was able to eject.

Saudi Arabia, a regular client for British military hardware, ordered a number of training aircraft from Britain in a deal worth $3 billion (2.2 million euros) in May.