Pakistan: F-16 fighter jet crashes in capital

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter jet crashed in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday morning, a PAF spokesperson said.

The F-16 aircraft crashed during a rehearsal for the Pakistan Day parade, held annually on March 23.

The jet fell down in Shakarparian, a wooded hilly area on the outskirts of the capital.

The spokesperson did not confirm whether there were any casualties in the accident, but said a board of inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause.

This was the third crash involving a PAF aircraft this year, following two in a week’s time in February.

The last one was on Feb. 12 when a PAF training aircraft came down near Takht Bhai, some 63 kilometers (39 miles) from Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The pilot had managed to eject safely.

Just days earlier, on Feb. 7, a PAF Mirage aircraft, which too was on a routine operational training mission, crashed near Shorkot town of Punjab.

The pilot ejected safely and no loss of life or property was reported on the ground.