Pilot dies in Pakistan air force plane crash

A Pakistan Air Force plane crashed on Wednesday in the south-west of the country due to technical failure, killing the pilot, an official said. The accident occurred in the Uthal area of Baluchistan province during a routine operational training flight. A spokesman for the air force said that a Mirage-V aircraft crashed due to technical malfunction. "The pilot embraced shahadat (death). No loss of civilian life or property has been reported on the ground," said Air Commodore Aness Mirza. He said a board of inquiry was ordered to determine the cause of the accident. The air force has suffered a number of crashes of planes used for training new pilots. In August, an F-7 plane crashed in Bhakkar in the central province of Punjab, killing a 14-year-old boy on the ground. The female pilot successfully ejected.(QNA) MD