Pakistan's First Female Fighter Pilot Dies In Crash
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Pakistan's First Female Fighter Pilot Dies In Crash

Pakistan's First Female Fighter Pilot Dies In Crash

The first ever female fatality was suffered by Pakistan's Air Force (PAF) after a fighter jet crashed during a training mission. 

Flying Officer Mariam Mukhtiar was killed after the Chinese-built F7-PG aircraft [pictured below] she was flying suffered a "serious in-flight emergency," according to a statement from the Pakistan Air Force.

Pakistan's First Female Fighter Pilot Dies In Crash

The aircraft crashed near the central town of Mianwali in Pakistan.

Both 23-year-old Mukhtiar and Squadron Leader Saqib Abbasi — who was also aboard the aircraft but survived — were praised by the air force for their "professionalism and courage" after they "tried to save the ill-fated aircraft until the very last minute."

Flying Officer Mukhtiar was one of few women to work as fighter pilots in Pakistan, and the first to die on operational service.
 
She told BBC News last year of her journey into a traditionally male-dominated world and desire to "do something different".
Mariam, also speaking to NBC in 2013, confided working in the PAF was "really tough, especially being a woman."
"But if you are willing enough and want to do something extraordinary, then this is very adventurous for me, very thrilling for me, and I am very motivated that I do something that hasn't been done before," she said. "I am very motivated that I do something that hasn't been done before."

The air force had 19 women pilots in 2013, the last year for which the figure was immediately available.

 

Pakistan's First Female Fighter Pilot Dies In Crash
Pakistan's First Female Fighter Pilot Dies In Crash

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