Two pilots injured in Ziarat aircraft crash

Security officials say the aircraft crashed due to technical faults

ZIARAT: Two pilots were wounded after their MFI-17 Mushshak aircraft—fixed gear trainer aircraft, crashed near the hills of Ziarat, about 40-kilometres off Khalid Airbase Quetta, on Saturday morning.

The crash was a result of a technical fault.

The injured pilots were identified as Hasnain Mehmood and Umar and are said to be in stable condition.

The wounded captains came from Gujranwala to Quetta for training.

“The wounded pilots were transported to Quetta for treatment. They are in stable condition,” a security official told The Express Tribune. The army sent helicopters to bring the injured pilots.

Mushshak is used for training undergraduate student pilots the fundamentals of aircraft handling, formation, instrument and night flying; the MFI-17 Mushshak is fitted with blind flying instrumentation. It is propelled by a single Textron Lycoming 4-cylinder engine with one twin-blade propeller.