KARACHI: Wing Commander Fayaz of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) sustained fatal injuries when his Mirage jet aircraft crashed during a routine operational training mission near Hawksbay here on Tuesday morning.

Earlier, rumours spread that the PAF jet had crashed inside Musharraf Colony, but later it was learnt that it had crashed inside the restricted area of the PAF Masroor base.

“We all heard the explosion and saw black smoke coming from the direction,” said the owner of a paanshop in Musharraf Colony. “Some of us ran to help but were not allowed to enter the air force facility. The smoke seemed to be coming from inside the base,” he added.

An officer posted at the gates of PAF Masroor said that the pilot lost his life while trying to steer the aircraft out of the populated area. “He radioed that he had lost control of the aircraft. He could have bailed out but there is only as much time to do that. In trying to fly out of the populated area, he lost that time and crashed in the wilderness,” he shared his thoughts with media.

A PAF statement after the crash said: “No loss of civilian life and property has been reported on ground. A board of inquiry has been ordered by Air Headquarters to determine the cause of accident.”

This is the second PAF aircraft crash in one month. On Sept 24, Flight Lieutenant Omer Shahzad flying an F-7PG encountered a technical fault and crashed in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2016