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Reply With QuoteWell its not clear if it was downed is it?
and that is all u had to say? Ppl died in there and our top ranking airforce men were in it, it is a huge loss for us
May Allah grant them all a place in jannah and forgive their sins(ameen)
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Uncanny, another downed military plane?
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Pakistan air force chief killed
Thursday, February 20, 2003 Posted: 8:37 AM EST (1337 GMT)
It was absolutely a routine flight for a routine activity. The weather was fit for flying.
-- Air force spokesman Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmed Khan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A plane has crashed into a mountainside in a remote region west of Islamabad, killing Pakistan's air force chief and all 16 others on board.
Air force chief Mushaf Ali Mir, his wife Bilqees, and several other top-ranking officials were killed in the crash in northwestern Pakistan, officials said.
The Fokker turboprop went down around 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday west of Islamabad, the sources said. It is not clear what caused the crash.
"It was absolutely a routine flight for a routine activity. The weather was fit for flying," air force spokesman Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmed Khan told Reuters news agency.
The plane was en route to Kohat -- the site of a Pakistani air force base -- to inspect aircraft that Pakistan recently received from another country.
Surrounded by mountains, Kohat, a town of about 100,000 people, is near the Afghan border.
It is an area where many Taliban fighters fled when U.S. and allied forces took control of Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks on America.
But, for now, Pakistan officials are playing down the possibility the plane was sabotaged or shot down.
The air force plane took off from Islamabad at 8 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) and was last heard from 27 minutes after takeoff.
The plane lost contact with the control tower at the Kohat Air Base shortly before it was to land there and there were no distress calls, Pakistani officials said.
Weather is not believed to have been a contributing factor to the accident, with skies overcast but not unusual in the area.
State-run Pakistan Television said "technical reasons" caused the crash but did not elaborate.
A board of inquiry is investigating the accident.
'A bang'
Surrounded by mountains, Kohat is close to the Afghan border
Villager Zarmast Khan said he heard explosions as the plane hit the ground.
"I heard a bang, followed by another big bang, and then I saw flames and smoke on the hills," he told Reuters.
A large piece of the plane's tail hugged the side of a 3,000-foot mountain, and pieces of the aircraft were strewn across the slope, witnesses said.
Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has canceled other engagements to head to Islamabad.
The vice chief of the Pakistan Air Force Syed Qaiser Hussain has been appointed acting chief of the air force, according to news agency reports.
Mir, 57, was born in the eastern city of Lahore and joined the air force in 1967.
A decorated former fighter pilot who took part in Pakistan's 1971 war against India, Mir took command of the air force in November 2000. He had two sons and a daughter.
"He was an excellent commander, and a hard core professional," The Associated Press quoted Air Commodore Tahir Butt as saying of Mir.
"He was very considerate. At times he would be very informal in wanting to know about the problems of his men."
Pakistan's air force, which has a strength of some 40,000 service personnel, has more than 10 air vice marshals and many more air commodores.
In 1988, Pakistan's then-president, General Mohammad Zia- ul-Haq, died in a mysterious crash of a military plane in the Punjab province.
The cause of the crash was never established.
-- CNN producer Syed Mohsin Naqvi, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report
"I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." -Isaac Asimov
Well its not clear if it was downed is it?
and that is all u had to say? Ppl died in there and our top ranking airforce men were in it, it is a huge loss for us
May Allah grant them all a place in jannah and forgive their sins(ameen)
Please Re-update your Signature
Pakistan have long experience with ''killing the leaders by planes accidents'' ........... I wish it just accident!
AssalamulaikomOriginally posted by Bilal
Pakistan have long experience with ''killing the leaders by planes accidents'' ........... I wish it just accident!
Not a long history it was just Zia Ul haq as far as I know , yes lets see what it was its not sure now
Please Re-update your Signature
Bismiallah Ir-rahman Ir-rahim
This is very unfortunate being a muslim on loss of the lives of 17 muslims. May Allah have mercy on their soul and rest them in peace. Amin
This Loss is infact is shrouded in mystery as pakistani Armed forces are playing down the role of conspiracy, but we all pakistani know that Mir was as described by Mushy as Progressive man, meant lot more. Mir was hand picked of US buddy Mushy and indeed this loss has a blow for him as he losing the game of controlling Pakistani armed forces according to the wishes and will of his buddy Bushy & Co.
Yes these incidents are rare in pakistans history and has always occured when Our Armed forces are having honey moon with US.
Isnt an co-incident? What happen to Late Gen. Zia? We all know US Ambassador was made goat for blowing up the plane by CIA.
Neither less to say Every body has to taste the Death. No matter how we are and what ever we do. May Allah give us death with firm Faith in Islam. Amin
