PAF training aircraft crashes near Sargodha

SARGODHA: An aircraft of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed near Sargodha while on a training mission on Thursday morning, while the pilot ejected safely, an air force statement said.

According to the statement of a PAF spokesperson, an F7-PG aircraft crashed in farmlands near Sargodha while on a training mission.

The search and rescue operation was in progress, the spokesperson further said.

No losses of civilian life and property has been reported on the ground, the statement further said.

“A board of inquiry has been ordered by Air Headquarters to determine the cause of [the] accident,” the statement added.

A PAF officer had embraced martyrdom when about a week ago when his aircraft crashed near Mianwali while on a routine operational flight.

Wing Commander Mohammad Shahzad was flying an F-7 aircraft when reportedly a technical fault was resulted the aircraft crashing in Mianwali on August 8.

F7-PGs were first inducted in the PAF in 2002 as a replacement for the F-6, which were then decommissioned. The trainer FT-7PGs came later. The air craft had previously operated F-7Ps.