PESHAWAR: Two Pakistan Air Force (PAF) pilots have embraced martyrdom after a crash landing on Tuesday at Customs landing runway near Bacha Khan International Airport.
An official statement from the PAF said, “PAF reports with regret that a PAF FT-7PG trainer aircraft while recovering from a routine operational training mission crashed during landing at Peshawar airbase.” “Rescue operation is in progress,” it added.
There was no official confirmation about the situation of the pilots.
Sources added that the aircraft took off around 11:40am near the customs landing runway at the airport when flames engulfed it. “The pilot tried to save a nearby village and steered the jet back towards the runway but it blew up during the crash-landing,” said an eye-witness.
The pilots reportedly embraced martyrdom, according to sources. Smoke could be seen rising from the airport’s vicinity. The runway was however cleared and flames were doused, according to airport sources.
