PESHAWAR, April 12: Two aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force crashed on Saturday, killing a pilot and injuring a trainee flyer.

A Mashak plane of Pakistan Air Force crashed near Charsadda on Saturday, killing the pilot and injuring the trainee pilot, eyewitnesses said.

Flight Lieutenant Touseef died on the spot and trainee pilot Naveed Ashraf sustained head injuries. A nearby school’s teachers and students rushed to the spot and took the injured pilot to a hospital.

Quoting the injured officer, the residents said that the Mashak plane (84-6122) which took off from the PAF base, Risalpur, was on a routine training flight.

The residents quoted the trainee pilot as saying that the plane suddenly caught fire during the flight and dived towards the ground in Tangi, some 40 kilometres east of Peshawar. The witnesses said that one of the crew jumped out of the plane before it crashed.

The PAF and army officials reached the spot and shifted the wreckage and wounded officer to Peshawar.

In the second incident, a Chinese built A-5 fighter crashed near the town of Pindigheb in central Punjab province, a PAF spokesman said, adding that the pilot ejected safely, adds AFP.

No damage was reported on the ground and an inquiry had been ordered into the two crashes, he said.