A trainer aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force crashed near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan city on Monday, resulting in the martyrdom of both pilots onboard the aircraft, the military’s media affairs wing said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the aircraft was on a routine training sortie when it crashed. As a result, Flight Lieutenant Muhammad Qasim Abdullah from the PAF and Lieutenant Taha Abbasi from the Pakistan Navy embraced martyrdom.

It added that “a board of inquiry has been constituted by Air Headquarters to ascertain the cause of the accident.”

The statement said Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, other services chiefs and “all ranks of the Pakistan Armed Forces express deep grief over the tragic loss of precious lives and extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families”.

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his grief over the pilots’ martyrdom and said, “The nation will always remember the sacrifices of its brave sons who lay down their lives for the defence of the homeland.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed grief over the “tragic crash” and paid tribute to the martyred pilots.

“Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. May Allah grant the departed highest ranks in Jannah and give strength to their loved ones in this difficult time,” he posted on X.

Past crashes

The crash follows another one that took place five days ago.

In the previous incident, an Mi-17 helicopter of the Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad on Wednesday during take-off “due to a technical fault”, ISPR said.

“All personnel on board embraced martyrdom. There were no survivors,” it said, adding that a board of inquiry had been ordered to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident.

Last year in September, five personnel had died after an army helicopter crashed in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district after a “technical fault”.

A month before that, a rescue helicopter of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had crashed in the Mohmand district due to bad weather, killing two pilots and three crew members.

The second half of 2022 also saw two crashes of army helicopters.

On August 2, the wreckage of a Pakistan Army helicopter was found in Balochistan’s Lasbela district a day after it went missing. All six people on board, including Commander 12 Corps Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali, embraced martyrdom in the incident.

The next month, six army officials, including two majors, were martyred after a helicopter crashed during a mission near Khost in Balochistan’s Harnai.

In December 2021, two pilots lost their lives after an army aviation helicopter crashed at Siachen in GB’s Ghanche district.

A year before that, four personnel embraced martyrdom when an army helicopter crashed due to technical reasons during a casualty evacuation in GB’s Astore district.

A 2015 crash of a military helicopter near KP’s Mansehra claimed the lives of all twelve on board.