LAHORE, Sept 29: A pilot and his friend died when a private, two-seater sports aircraft crashed while landing at the Walton Airport on Friday afternoon.

The aircraft is said to have caught fire after pilot Abdul Majeed Bhutta, 53, lost control while landing after flying two rounds.

“After taking two rounds of circuit flying, Mr Bhutta was landing the plane when it went out of control after touching down the runway, skidded about 10 feet, stalled on the left side of the runway and caught fire at about 3:06pm,” Walton Airport Manager Ghulam Mustafa Mirani told reporters. The pilot and his friend Syed Munawar Husain died on the spot.

Mr Mirani said apparently the pilot lost control of the aircraft during landing, adding that the exact reason would be known after an inquiry.

A lawyer by profession, Mr Bhutta had been a member of the Ultra-light and Sports Flying Club for two years. He is said to be a trained pilot who had a licence to fly small planes.

The bodies of Mr Bhutta of R.A. Bazaar and Mr Husain of Model Town were almost burnt as fire-fighting staff of the airport reached the place some 10 minutes after the crash. Their equipment, too, did not work properly.

“The aircraft took two dives before crashing and when the airport staff reached the spot with the fire-fighting unit and tried to extinguish fire, the equipment did not work,” an eyewitness said.

“The city fire brigade also reached the spot about half an hour late,” he said.

“Two vehicles of the Civil Aviation Authority tried to put out the fire but the bodies were almost burnt,” said an official of Rescue 1122.

Ultra-light Flying Club Operations Manager Usman Malik told reporters that the aircraft was technically fit for flying and Mr Bhutta was a licensed pilot who had already completed more than 100 flight hours.

When contacted, the family of Mr Bhutta refused to talk about the incident.

Mr Bhutta is survived by his wife and three daughters.