RAWLPINDI: A small training aircraft crashed near the outskirts of Mian Channu, an area Khanewal district of Punjab on Wednesday during a routine flight.
The plane was on routine training when it crashed near Toll Plaza in Mian Channu. The pilot of the aircraft remained safe, while no human or financial loss was reported but the roofs of some nearby houses collapsed.
A loud explosion was heard soon after the crash and fire erupted. Rescue teams and law enforcement agencies reached the spot to carry on rescue and relief activities. The cause of the crash could not be ascertained.
In September last year, a small trainer aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed near Mardan during a routine training mission. It was not clear whether any casualty occurred in the incident.
In a similar incident in August, a PAF fighter trainer aircraft had crashed near Attock during a routine training mission, however, no loss of life or property was reported on the ground. At least five similar incidents were reported in 2020, with four PAF jets crashing during training missions and one while rehearsing for the March 23 parade.
The first incident had taken place in January 2020, when an aircraft of the PAF had crashed while on a routine operational training mission near Mianwali. Both pilots, Squadron Leader Haris bin Khalid and Flying Officer Ibaadur Rehman, aboard the PAF FT-7 aircraft had lost their lives in the crash.
It was followed by another accident in February when a PAF Mirage aircraft crashed while on a routine operational training mission near Shorkot city in Punjab. The pilot safely ejected and no loss of life or property had been reported on the ground.
A PAF trainer aircraft had crashed the same month while on a routine training mission near Takht Bhai in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district. The pilot had been ejected safely before the crash.
