A Pakistan Army fighter jet crashed on Monday during aroutine training mission in eastern Punjab province, killing both the pilots onboard, according to the military’s media wing.
The crash took place in Gujrat area of Punjab province, theInter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
Both pilots, Major Umer – who was the Instructor Pilot andLieutenant Fiazan, who was Student Pilot – were killed in the accident, thearmy said in a statement.
Major Umer is survived by his wife, it said, adding that theexact cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained.
There were no casualties on ground, the military said.
Pakistan has a chequered military and civilian aviationsafety record, with plane and helicopter crashes frequent over the years.
On March 23, a Pakistan Air Force F-16 aircraft crashed nearShakarparian in Islamabad during rehearsals for the Pakistan Day Parade. WingCommander Nauman Akram was killed in the crash.
In July 2019, 17 people lost their lives after a militaryaircraft crashed into a populated area in the suburbs of Rawalpindi. Five armyofficials and 12 civilians were killed in the crash, the ISPR had said.
Another 12 civilians were injured in the crash as theaircraft slammed into houses below where most of the people were sleeping atthe time.
And in 2016 a Pakistan International Airlines plane burstinto flames after one of its engines failed while travelling from northernPakistan to Islamabad, killing more than 40 people.
Pakistan’s powerful military consumes a major chunk of thecountry’s budget, spending millions on sophisticated hardware in theimpoverished nation, which critics say has come at the expense of investment inother sectors.