Plane crashes in Pakistan involving military personnel are always fishy. One note about Kohat distt, the terrain there is very rugged, had the plane been in another part of the country, perhaps things would have been different.
I am including the relevent info about the Late Air Chief, hope that gives everyone a better understanding.
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Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir
Nishan-e-Imtiaz(M), Hilal-e-Imtiaz(M), Sitara-e-Imtiaz(M), Sitara-e-Basalat
General
Date of Birth: 5th March, 1947
Date of Commission: 20th January, 1967
Appointment as CAS: 20th November, 2000 - to date
Key Command & Staff Appointments
Officer Commanding No.1 OCU
Officer Commanding No.33 Wing
Base Commander PAF Base Sargodha
Air Officer Commanding, Southern Air Command
Chairman Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Board
Director Operations AHQ Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans)
Chief Project Director, ‘Project Falcon’ (F-16) & ‘Green Project Flash’ (MIR 2000-5)
Courses
Flying Instructors School
Combat Commanders School
PAF Staff College Faisal National Defence College
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The PAF is is a very close community and being from a PAF family myself I feel especially sorry for the family of CAS Mushaf. Two of his children are older but one is quite young, he should be in Matric or First Year now (or the eq. in O/A levels). I knew the youngest quite well and we've also played quite some cricket with each other. I feel really sorry for him, he's a really good boy, very respectful and excellent at both studies & sports, his character showed that his mom and dad were really good people. He was in my little bro's class. I hope Allah gives him the courage to bear the loss of his parents patiently.
It is quite ironic that the Chief survived the grave dangers of flying a fighter aircraft, only to die on a passenger plane. I remember in Nov 2000 how he came in his cavalcade, driving to the tune of military bands, to the decorated Officers Mess in E-9 Isb. He had just been unexpectedly appointed the Chief by Musharraf, superceding many other senior PAF officers. He and his family would have felt on top of the world at that time. Alas, fate had yet to uncover another surprise, this time a tragic one.
May Allah have mercy on the departed souls.
The acting Chief now is Air Marshal Qaiser, coincidentally he (and his family) lived on the floor right below ours in a six-flat duplex at PAF Isb when he was just a Wing Commander some 14 years ago. His son Sameer was my class fellow (+desk fellow) and best bud up to class 2 when his dad was deputed to Abu Dhabi. I have quite a few memories with him. He was a great friend and I think I cried in their empty garage after they left for their Abu Dhabi deputation, lolzz. I wasn't able to maintain any contact with Sameer cuz there was no Internet back then. The only thing I ever heard about him was when his sis told my sis that he had grown fat after they came back from Abu Dhabi, lolzz. I am sure he is slim and smart now and hopefully Musharraf will maintain his father as the Chief of Air Staff if he finds him professionally capable for the job.
Hmmm, normally in any other country, accidents do happen, but because it has happend in Pakistan, a few points come to mind, e.g. how long was this flight (duration of time) and was the Air Chief or the pilots flying the planes not aware that the weather is not permissible for such flight over such terrain. I smell more of a technical snag or sabotage rather than weather.
Authorities have pointed out five possible reasons of the crash:
[li]Bangin’ into the mountain because of Pilot’s miscalculation of judgement.
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[li]Technical fault, if so, questions will be asked about the efficiency of PAF.
[/li]
[li]Sabotage - Hasn’t ruled out, no signed of it yet either.
[/li]
[li]Strayed or friendly fire, which in my point of view can’t be the case.
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[li]Terrorist Work - Hasn’t ruled out, no signed of it yet either.
[/li]
The Fokker plane’s pilot was Squadron Leader Ahmad Yousaf while the navigator was Squadron Leader Mumtaz Kiani.
**Preliminary investigations into the tragic accident reveal that the pilot in an attempt to bring the aircraft out of thick clouds descended it down to 3,200 feet altitude. Kohat is situated at 2,200 feet altitude, and bringing the plane just 1,200 feet high and too almost 5 minutes before touch-down was a dangerous move on the part of the pilot. It ultimately cost the precious lives of top PAF officers and wife of the air chief.
Aviation experts say that the pilot probably tried to come down in an attempt to bring the plane out of clouds before his naked eyes started seeing the strip. They say in doing so the aircraft hit the Gumbit cliff and rolled into the surface, otherwise Fokker is a plane which can land even on muddy surface.**