A female co-pilot died on Tuesday as a trainer aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed on the outskirts of Mianwali district in Punjab.
The copilot has been identified as Flying Officer Mariam Mukhtar.Quoting a statement issued by the PAF, Reuters reported that the crash occurred during “routine operational training.”
A second pilot survived, the statement said.
Earlier it was reported the pilots of the PAF fighter aircraft had successfully ejected before the crash. However, the co-pilot received injuries which she later succumbed to.This is not the first time a PAF trainer jet has crashed. In September, a PAF fighter jet F7-PG crashed near Mastung during what officials described as a routine training operation. The pilot managed to eject to safety.
According to a spokesperson for PAF’s Samungli Airbase in Quetta, “The F7-PG fighter jet was on a routine training mission when its engine caught fire and crashed on a fray near Mastung.” “The pilot, flight lieutenant Yasir, ejected himself from the plane safely while no loss of life and property was reported in the incident,” he added.
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Earlier in August, a PAF helicopter, which was carrying flood reliefs goods, was forced to make an emergency landing in Chitral after developing a technical fault. Reports said PAF’s MI-17 helicopter crash-landed in the Mastuj area of Chitral after it is said to have been partially damaged while carrying out flood relief activities in the region.
