Army's training aircraft crashes near Gujranwala, killing both pilots

E-Paper | April 27, 2026

GUJRANWALA: A Pak Army aircraft on a training mission crashed near Gujranwala district of Punjab Tuesday evening, killing both the crew members on board.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the aircraft was on a training flight and both the crew members, instructor pilot Major Azhar and trainee pilot Captain Ahmed lost their lives in the crash.

Instructor Major Azhar. ─Photo courtesy ISPR

The senior pilot, Major Azhar was about to get married later this month.

The crash is the latest deadly accident to hit Pakistan's military.

In November last year, a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plane crash left a female pilot dead, when her training flight crashed near Mianwali.

A military helicopter carrying diplomats to inspect a tourism project crashed in May 2015, killing seven people, including the ambassadors of Norway and Philippines.

While in August 2015, another military helicopter being used as an air ambulance crashed near the northern district of Mansehra, killing 12 people.

Our readers are at the heart of everything we do.
Do you have a thought to share or a way we can improve? We’d love to hear it. Reach out to us at feedback@dawn.com.

Pakistan

PAF’s fighter pilot dies in plane crash

Three killed as PAF jet crashes in Karachi's Baldia Town

PAF Mirage aircraft crashes near Sonmiani, pilot unharmed

Indian

Feb 09, 2016 06:10pm

RIP

Recommend 0

yaseen

Feb 09, 2016 06:10pm

Rip.......

Recommend 0

Papa

Feb 09, 2016 06:25pm

Sorry to hear that.Lots of soldiers dying across two sides. RIP . India

Recommend 0

XEE

Feb 09, 2016 06:25pm

Tragic. Nothing seems to be going right in the country.

Recommend 0

AIZ

Feb 09, 2016 06:49pm

Sad... why training jets are falling - must be looked after as a normal jet....

Recommend 0

PHILOSOPHER (from Japan)

Feb 09, 2016 06:50pm

Very sad indeed. Salute to brave soldiers...I wonder why these days alot of plane and copter crashes. Can anyone give me update?

Recommend 0

James_Blonde

Feb 09, 2016 06:58pm

We have had two many air accidents in recent past. Someone somewhere is not doing their job.

Recommend 0

Hassan

Feb 09, 2016 07:04pm

Did both student and instructor not have a parachute? This is gross negligence by the military. More stringent measure needs to be taken to preserve the life of military men and women. RIP.

Recommend 0

Indian

Feb 09, 2016 07:05pm

World most respectable job . A soldier is true hero of his country ... RIP ... Salute you sir

Recommend 0

Naxalite

Feb 09, 2016 07:07pm

Huge Loss. Heart is Grieved.

Recommend 0

Hamid Shafiq

Feb 09, 2016 07:09pm

Loss of pilot life is more than an aircraft cost I think govt should check why training aeroplanes lost in recent months

Recommend 0

punekar

Feb 09, 2016 07:26pm

RIP

Recommend 0

Hitesh

Feb 09, 2016 07:32pm

RIP.:(

Recommend 0

atheist

Feb 09, 2016 07:50pm

RIP..

Recommend 0

lafanga

Feb 09, 2016 07:55pm

RIP brave soldiers of the Pak army.

Recommend 0

Cavaliar

Feb 09, 2016 08:06pm

RIP

Recommend 0

Abhijeet

Feb 09, 2016 08:37pm

RIP..

Recommend 0

just_someone

Feb 09, 2016 08:41pm

can someone mention which aircraft that is? is it one of the domestically made ones?

Recommend 0

athar

Feb 09, 2016 08:55pm

It has become routine. On each incident probe committee is constituted, however findings are not shared. Issue need to be addressed seriously as such casualties are highest in the region.

Recommend 0

Ali

Feb 09, 2016 10:02pm

very sad :(

Recommend 0

anony

Feb 09, 2016 10:53pm

May their soul rest in peace. Ameen.

Recommend 0

Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Feb 09, 2016 11:50pm

What a great tragedy?

Recommend 0

Dr. Farooq Khan

Feb 09, 2016 11:52pm

Please, install safery ( seat ejection) in all training jets. Nation cannot afford loosing brilliant people.

Recommend 0

faryal

Feb 10, 2016 12:13am

Sad

Recommend 0

Ali

Feb 10, 2016 12:51am

Very sad

Recommend 0

Hassan

Feb 10, 2016 03:03am

Capt Ahmed was my neighbor. Brilliant kid with full of energy and enthusiasm. Met him last week after Isha prayer. very difficult time for our whole neighborhood yet alone for his mother. He was the only son of the parents.For God sake get rid of these planes, please look how many brilliant ppl have we lost because of these planes.

Recommend 0

Feb 10, 2016 03:37am

aviation related incidents are increasing in Pak in last 12-18 months. 1. Gujranwala crash (this one) 2. Last Nov PAF crash 3. May 2015 - was another sad one 4.Aug 2015 - Military helicopter in Mansehra 5- Airblue a couple of years ago. 6. There are few near missed incidents in last 18 -24 months too. Its time for Civil Aviation Authority to takes measures to avoid these incidents. Defence & civil sky should be made safe to avoid these incidents.

Recommend 0

Mustafa

Feb 10, 2016 03:52am

RIP. What's the name of the aircraft? Why are so many Pakistan's choppers and aircraft crashing? Responsibility must be fixed and the punishment should be doled out to the negligent personals. Names should be made public too.

Recommend 0

Jamal

Feb 10, 2016 04:32am

I wonder why don't they eject?

Recommend 0

Branded Content

Indus Cloud signs strategic partnership agreement with PTCL to deliver cloud excellence

The partnership marks a significant step in Indus Cloud’s and PTCL’s joint efforts to strengthen Pakistan’s cloud and data centre infrastructure and expand access to enterprise-grade digital services in the country.