Flying Officer Marium Mukhtar could save her life
By Sajida Bukhari
Rawalpindi, Pakistan: PAF female Flying Officer Marium Mukhtar could save her life if she could have ejected herself before taking PAF FT-7PG out of popular area but both pilots decided to take risk to keep flying the downing jet for taking the jet out of populated area. This delay in ejection caused martyrdom of Marium Mukhtar, believe experienced and retired PAF jet pilots.
She was just 22 year old when she embraced martyrdom. Marium Mukhtar was a great football player and she represented Balochistan province in National Football Championship in 2007 and Balochistan United WFC from 2008-10. She was not an ordinary person rather a born leader. She was confident, charismatic and talkative extrovert personality.
She gave an interview for a BBC report that was aired on January 15, 2014 in which she said that she decided to become a fighter pilot for “doing something different”. Yes she was different from others and she died in way that is different from others— God gives Shahadat to only some persons from millions.
She was popular among her colleagues as person who was ready to help anybody around her. She was still a trainee pilot and lost her life when a training aircraft of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed near Kachcha Gujrat area in Mianwali.
According to PAF, the FT-7PG was being flown by Sqaudron Leader Saqib Abbasi and co-pilot Flying Officer Mariam Mukhtar. PAF official statement said that she got injuries in the accident and did not survive from her injuries. “Ensuring safety of life and property of civilian population on ground, both the pilots ejected and the aircraft crashed near Kundian, Mianwali”, added the PAF statement.
“Flying Officer Maryam Mukhtar, a female fighter pilot trainee, and an instructor Squadron Leader Saqib Abbasi have suffered injuries during their ejection from the aircraft”, the statement added.
