A trainer aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force crashed near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan city on Monday, resulting in the martyrdom of both pilots onboard the aircraft, the military’s media affairs wing said.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the aircraft was on a routine training sortie when it crashed. As a result, Flight Lieutenant Muhammad Qasim Abdullah from the PAF and Lieutenant Taha Abbasi from the Pakistan Navy embraced martyrdom.
It added that “a board of inquiry has been constituted by Air Headquarters to ascertain the cause of the accident.”
The statement said Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, other services chiefs and “all ranks of the Pakistan Armed Forces express deep grief over the tragic loss of precious lives and extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families”.
The crash follows another one that took place five days ago.
In the previous incident, an Mi-17 helicopter of the Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad on Wednesday during take-off “due to a technical fault”, ISPR said.
“All personnel on board embraced martyrdom. There were no survivors,” it said, adding that a board of inquiry had been ordered to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident.
More to follow
