Two pilots were killed after an aircraft belonging to the Pakistan Air Force crashed near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district on Monday.
A training aircraft of Pakistan Airforce crashed in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In a heroic act, the pilots steered the aircraft away from populated areas before crashing, sacrificing their lives to protect civilians on the ground. Pakistan salutes its heroes. 🇵🇰 @DGPR_PAF pic.twitter.com/4TNFsJR6LS
— Ayesha Ufaq (@Ufaq_RM) June 15, 2026
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, informed that the trainer aircraft was on a routine training sortie and crashed near Mardan. Among those killed were identified as Flight Lieutenant Muhammad Qasim Abdullah (Pakistan Air Force) and Lieutenant Taha Abbasi (Pakistan Navy), ARY News reported.
ISPR stated that a board of inquiry has been constituted by the Air Headquarters to look into the matter and ascertain the cause of the accident.
This comes days after a Mi-17 helicopter of Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad during take-off on June 10. At that time, it was stated that the incident happened due to technical fault. All personnel on board were killed and there were no survivors.