Pakistan Army trainer aircraft crashes, kills two pilots

Two Pakistan Army Aviation pilots were killed on Monday when their trainer aircraft crashed during a routine training mission in Punjab province, the military said.

The Mushshak aircraft crashed in Gujrat ciy, some 150 kilometres from Lahore, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Both the pilots, Major Umer - who was the Instructor Pilot and Lieutenant Fiazan, a Student Pilot - were killed in the accident, the army said in a statement.

Major Umer is survived by his wife, it said, adding that the exact cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained.

There were no casualties on ground, the military said.

Developed from Saab Safari, the Mushshak is a license-built fixed-gear basic trainer aircraft used by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force.

Pakistan has a chequered military and civilian aviation safety record, with plane and helicopter crashes frequent over the years.

On March 23, a Pakistan Air Force F-16 aircraft crashed near Shakarparian in Islamabad during rehearsals for the Pakistan Day Parade. Wing Commander Nauman Akram was killed in the crash.

In July 2019, 17 people lost their lives after a military aircraft crashed into a populated area in the suburbs of Rawalpindi. Five army officials and 12 civilians were killed in the crash, the ISPR had said.

Another 12 civilians were injured in the crash as the aircraft slammed into houses below where most of the people were sleeping at the time.

And in 2016 a Pakistan International Airlines plane burst into flames after one of its engines failed while travelling from northern Pakistan to Islamabad, killing more than 40 people.

Pakistan's powerful military consumes a major chunk of the country's budget, spending millions on sophisticated hardware in the impoverished nation, which critics say has come at the expense of investment in other sectors.