Female pilot killed in PAF training aircraft crash

A female pilot of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) was killed when her training aircraft crashed on Tuesday, ARY News reports.

Mukhtiar’s death was declared a martyrdom or shahadat by the PAF, which said both pilots “handled the serious emergency with professionalism and courage and tried to save the ill-fated aircraft until the very last minute”.

The spokesperson added that Flight Officer Marium Mukhtar was killed while squadron leader Saqib Abbasi got injured.

The PAF stated this was the first such incident in terms of a women pilot losing life in line of duty.

Flying Officer Mukhtiar was one of a small number of women to work as fighter pilots in Pakistan, and the first to die on operational service.

According to the statement, the pair remained in the stricken plane and did not eject until it was clear the civilian population on the ground was not in danger.

Both the pilots sustained severe injuries after they ejected from the crashed aircraft.

In January 2014, a 21-year-old Mukhtiar told the BBC she joined the PAF because she “wanted to do something different” and was “motivated by the uniform and the discipline and the pomp”.

Rescue officials gather debris from the crashed trainer jet.