Technical fault: Army aviation plane crashes in S Waziristan

Three officers were injured in the incident

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: An army aviation plane crashed near South Waziristan’s Wana stadium on Friday, resulting in injuries to three officers.

The injured officers were identified as Lt-Col Murad, Major Nasir Tareen and Major Shahid.

The Mashak aircraft had taken off from Wana field strip for Kohat. The crash took place due to a technical fault in the air-conditioning system and the engine of the plane.

Security forces cordoned off the area and secured the plane’s wreckage while the officers were shifted to the local field camp, where their condition is stated to be stable.

The Mushshak basic trainer is a light-weight, single engine aircraft. It can operate from any short unprepared strip and is ideal for basic flight training, instrument flying, aerobatics, stalls and deliberate spins, night flying, navigation flying and formation flying.

The aircraft, which has a structure life of 9,500 hours, was developed keeping flexibility in mind ─ it covers both army cooperation and primary flying training.