Two Pakistan Army pilots were martyred on Monday when a training aircraft crashed near Quetta because of a technical fault, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
“At midday on 12th October 2026, a Mushshak training aircraft of Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Nawan Killi, Quetta, due to a technical fault,” the military’s media wing said in a statement, Geo News reported.
The martyrs
The ISPR named the two pilots:
- Major Husnain Shehzad Humayun, the instructor pilot
- Captain Abdul Samad, the student pilot
Both embraced martyrdom in the crash, which happened near Nawan Killi on the outskirts of the provincial capital. The military said the cause was a technical fault.
Nation mourns
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grief at the martyrdom of the two pilots and offered condolences to their families. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed sorrow, prayed for the elevation of the martyrs’ ranks and for strength for their families, Dawn reported, citing the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.
“In this hour of sorrow, we stand with the martyrs’ bereaved families,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement.
A training flight
The aircraft was on a training sortie: the instructor, a major, was flying with a student pilot, a captain, when the technical fault occurred around midday. The ISPR did not give further details of the fault.
The Mushshak
The Mushshak, whose name means “proficient” in Urdu, is a fixed-gear, piston-engine primary trainer made by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra. It is an improved and heavily modified version of the Swedish Saab Safari, built to military standards and fully aerobatic, and is used for training, towing and ground-support roles. As of 2022 there were 477 of the type and its variants in service, making it one of the most widely used training aircraft in the world. PAC has also produced an upgraded version, the Super Mushshak.
Pakistan Army Aviation, the corps the two officers served in, is a service branch of the Pakistan Army that operates all of its aircraft and provides close air combat support and air logistics for the army in the field.
A painful year for military aviation
Monday’s crash is the latest in a series of military air accidents:
- June 2026: an Mi-17 helicopter of Pakistan Army Aviation crashed during take-off near Muzaffarabad because of a technical fault, killing everyone on board
- June 2026: a Pakistan Air Force aircraft crashed in Mardan during a routine training sortie, and both pilots were martyred
- September 2025: an army helicopter crashed in Chilas, Diamer district, after a technical fault, and all five crew members were martyred
Why it matters
Two young officers gave their lives in the service of the country during a routine training flight. Their sacrifice, like that of soldiers fighting terrorism in the field, is part of the price the armed forces pay to keep Pakistan safe. Read our report on security forces’ operations in KP and Balochistan.
This article draws on reporting by Geo News, Dawn and an ISPR statement, with background on the Mushshak from Wikipedia.
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