STAFF REPORTER
RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) trainer aircraft on a routine training sortie crashed near Mardan on Monday, martyring both pilots on board, the InterServices Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. According to the military’s media wing, the pilots were identified as Flight Lieutenant Muhammad Qasim Abdullah of the PAF and Lieutenant Taha Abbasi of the Pakistan Navy. Air Headquarters has constituted a board of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the accident, the statement said. Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, along with the services chiefs and all ranks of the Pakistan Armed Forces, expressed deep grief over the tragic loss of precious lives and extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The latest crash occurred five days after another aircraft accident. Earlier on June 10, an Mi-17 helicopter of the Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad on Wednesday due to “technical fault” occurred during the chopper’s take-off, the military’s media wing said. “All personnel on board embraced Shahadat. There were no survivors,” the ISPR said. It added that a board of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident. Last year in September, five personnel were martyred when an army helicopter crashed in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district due to a technical fault. Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep grief over the crash of a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) trainer aircraft near Mardan that claimed the lives of two pilots.
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