"It was FT-7 training aircraft. It crashed near Mianwali soon after take off from the base," the spokesman told AFP.
A woman trainee pilot and the instructor managed to escape, he said adding that "both are safe."
It was the third air force jet to crash in training in three months. Two pilots were killed in the other incidents and a helicopter crash last June killed four military personnel.
The Pakistan Air Force has a fleet of Chinese aircraft, including F-7PGs and A-5s, plus US-built F-16s and French Mirages. It recently acquired medium-tech JF-17 or Thunder jets, manufactured jointly by China and Pakistan.
COMMENTS (31)
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PAF's safety record is going down ... they need to be checked by an independent inquiry ... each of these jets costs millions of taxpayer dollars ...
Inshahallh all aircraft's and jets will soon destroyed by Allah because they bombing on their own muslim brothers to help amiricans. air force is not PAF it is AAF or IAF
I'm glad they lived. ...Because it feels wrong to laugh when they don't.
@Usman Shahid: Crude joke. Very bad attempt, I must say. Just because God did not bless you with any talent whatsoever does not mean you go around making fun of others more talented than you
Pakistani Pilots:( They are only good in movie making. (Australia Incident)
An FT-7 is a trainer, dual-seat version of the Chinese F-7 which the PAF uses in great numbers. The F-7, in turn, is a Chinese improvement on the basic MiG-21 aircraft design of Russian origin.
Knockoff Mig 21 with lousy safety record - India has lost over 100 pilots flying similar plane.
It was only engine failure, not any pilot mistake.
It was Chinese was'nt it.
@Sweet Dee:
Which parts were built by Pakistan, apart from paint job that is?
@ Yuri Kondratyuk
Yes, it was built jointly by Pakistan and China - more Chinese input obviously, since they're more experienced. I would give you the details but you're a well known troll, so i've decided not to spoon-feed you.
The comments on Jf-17 medium tech is ill qualified..Its is high tech in medium tech class and so is considered to be high tech.
jf 17 is pakistan's technology. China has reversed engineered it
2 crashes already in 2012.. why are our pilots not properly trained. both our old aircrafts and new aircrafts like jf 17 are crashing. Allah bless Pakistan
Are we trying to break Indian record of crashes?
@Arafin: I feel sorry for you on the lack of knowledge you have on PAF aircrafts. You have a biased mind and it shows its arrogance. It would have been nice if you would have commented that the trainee pilot and trainor are safe, even if injured... ;
@SalSal: I think @Arafin was simply highlighting the odd sounding word - medium-tech and also claim that JF17 was "manufactured jointly by China and Pakistan"
@Vigilant: These are training jets, not main stream war planes. know something before saying nonsense
@karachi: permit me to turn as blind as you: more men have crashed planes in the entire history of this world than women. bad bad pilots, you men.
@Arafin That plane wasn't the JF17, so please.
Thanks God both are safe.
Ah, yes let me shift the blame from the lifeless hunk of metal that wouldn't know any better slightly towards the people who are responsible for maintaining them. Not saying that the PAF engineers are entirely to blame, I know these airframes and engines, there are thousands of factors that you can't influence and they do go wrong. Just saying we may want to revise our maintenance SOPs and raise the QA bar a bit higher considering we are flying aged birds out there.
Lolzzzzz.......... i very much doubt that she must have been busy adjusting her eye-liner at the time of crash..............jokes apart, I wish her and all other pilots best of luck in future....n thank god, they're safe..........
@karachi: don't be a MCP. Flying a plane isn't as easy as commenting on laptop in a A/C room. On top of it, she's flying a Chinese junk. Respect the woman pilot!
Now PAF have started to fly coffins besides IAF........?????
A.5's have been retired....
woman bad drivers... clearly bad pilots.. as well..lol
"medium-tech JF-17 or Thunder jets, manufactured jointly by China and Pakistan."
:)
oh i hope she recovers enough to fly again :) my prayers, behna.. and i know its the rickety old training aircrafts that are responsible, not our well-trained pilots..
<3 PAF