An attempt at a 'Top Gun'-like stunt ended in tragedy for a fighter pilot when his jet bounced off the runway while attempting a high-risk manoeuver in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Air Force pilot Muhammad Asim Jawad, 32, was reportedly attempting a low-altitude triple-barrel roll when the fuselage of his Yakovlev Yak-130 fighter jet scraped along the tarmac in Chattogram.
CCTV footage shows smoke and sparks erupting from the jet before Jawad was able to pull up off the runway.
Video shows how Bangladesh Air Force Yak-130 crashed, video further shows that the pilot lost the control over the jet....... https://t.co/H9ddNC5221 pic.twitter.com/xcgqeqyjSe
— ENTEI (@ZEUS_PSF) May 13, 2024
Although Jawad was still in the air, a fire had already reportedly broken out on the rear of the jet. Jawad and his co-pilot Sohan Hasan Khan were forced to eject from the jet.
Video footage shows the pilots floating down after deploying their parachutes. Both pilots landed in the Karnaphuli River and were later rescued alive by the air force, navy and local fisherman, but Jawad succumbed to his injuries later in the hospital while Khan was still in critical condition.
The fighter jet was later retrieved from the water too. The Bangladesh government's Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that the jet had crashed due to "mechanical failure".
The Bangladesh Air Force had also claimed the crashed YAK 130 fighter jet encountered a mechanical failure, resulting in a catastrophic crash in the Patenga area of Chittagong.
However, a source refuting the BAF claim said, 'Recently obtained CCTV footage from the runway area contradicts this claim by BAF, displaying a chilling sequence where the aircraft attempts to perform three consecutive aileron rolls at a perilously low altitude, nearly colliding with the runway in the process'.
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