PAF Mirage aircraft crashes near Sonmiani, pilot unharmed

Published April 16, 2015
The pilot of the jet, which crashed during a training mission, is unharmed ─ AP/File
The pilot of the jet, which crashed during a training mission, is unharmed ─ AP/File

SONMIAMI: A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Mirage aircraft crashed near Balochistan's Sonmiani tehsil Thursday during a routine operational training mission, said a report published on Radio Pakistan.

According to a PAF spokesperson, the pilot is unharmed as he ejected himself from the aircraft safely. There has been no loss of life or damage to property on the ground.

The formation of a board of enquiry has been ordered by the Air Headquarters to investigate the possible cause of the crash.

Within the past year alone, there have been at least three accidents involving Mirage aircrafts.

The most recent took place in Dera Ismail Khan in March 2015, and claimed the lives of two PAF officers. The causes of the crash were a technical fault and bad weather.

In 2014, three separate crash incidents claimed the lives of three pilots and one civilian, while eight other civilians were injured.

Two of them took place in Jhang and Gadap, and involved Mirage jets, while the third, which occurred in June in Karachi's Baldia Town, involved an unidentified training aircraft which exploded mid-air.

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