A female Pakistani air force pilot was killed yesterday when her trainer jet crashed near the town of Mianwali, the military said, the first such loss for the country’s tiny community of women pilots.
The crash happened during “routine operational training”, the air force said in a statement. A second pilot survived.
“Squadron Leader Saqib Abbasi and Flying Officer Marium Mukhtiar were on a routine training mission when they encountered a serious in-flight emergency,” the air force said.
“Ensuring safety of life and property of civilian population on ground, both the pilots ejected and the aircraft crashed near Mianwali.”
Mukhtiar is the first female pilot of the Pakistan air force to be killed while on duty. The air force had 19 women pilots in 2013, the last year for which the figure was immediately available.
Pakistani female fighter pilot dies in crash
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