2 pilots martyred as PAF aircraft crashes in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Two pilots were martyred as a training aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crash-landed at the Peshawar Air Base on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the PAF in a statement issued to the media said that the FT-7PG trainer aircraft of 17 Squadron crash-landed at the airbase after returning from a routine operational training mission.

“The Pakistan Air Force reports with regret that a PAF FT-7PG trainer aircraft while recovering from a routine operational training mission crashed during landing at the Peshawar Air Base,” the statement said.

The PAF spokesperson said the Air Headquarters has ordered an inquiry to ascertain the real cause of the incident. The aircraft crash-landed around 11:35am near the customs landing runway. “We heard an unusual sound of the plane engine before the aircraft crash-landed on the runway,” said an official of the Airport Security Force (ASF).

“The aircraft caught fire as it touched the ground. The staff, vehicles of the fire brigade and ambulances rushed towards the site of the incident to extinguish the fire and rescue the pilots,” an official of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said. The martyred pilots were identified as Wing Commander Umar and Flying Officer Israr.