‘Top Gun’ stunt ends in tragedy as fighter jet bounces off runway after low-altitude triple barrel-roll: Pilot ejects before plane explodes but later dies in hospital
A ‘Top Gun’ stunt has ended in tragedy after a fighter jet bounced off the runway following a low-altitude triple barrel-roll.
Pilot Muhammad Asim Jawad, 32, appeared to be attempting a Top Gun-like stunt with three rolls at low altitude when the fuselage of his Yakovlev Yak-130 scraped along the tarmac.
CCTV shows smoke and sparks erupting from the Russian-made jet before Jawad pulled up from the runway in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on May 9.
But a fire had already broken out in the rear of the jet and Bangladesh Air Force pilot Jawad and his co-pilot Wing Commander Sohan Hasan Khan both ejected.
Both pilots reportedly landed in the Karnaphuli River and were rescued alive by members of the air force, navy and local fishermen, but Jawad later died in hospital, while Khan remains in critical condition.
Pilot Muhammad Asim Jawad, 32, appeared to be attempting a Top Gun-like stunt with three aileron rolls at low altitude when the fuselage of his Yakovlev Yak-130 scraped along the tarmac (pictured)
Both pilots reportedly landed in the Karnaphuli River and were rescued alive by members of the air force, navy and local fishermen, but Jawad (pictured) later died in hospital, while Khan remains in critical condition
CCTV shows smoke and sparks erupting from the Russian-made jet before Jawad pulled up from the runway in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on May 9. But a fire had already broken out in the rear of the jet and Bangladesh Air Force pilot Jawad and his co-pilot Wing Commander Sohan Hasan Khan both ejected
The two pilots ejected out of the burning fighter jet after it bounced off the runway
The aircraft was later recovered from the water. The government’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the training jet had ‘crashed due to a mechanical failure’
The aircraft was later recovered from the water. The government’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the training jet had ‘crashed due to a mechanical failure’.
They claimed the pilots manoeuvred the aircraft away from the densely populated area near the airport to the sparsely populated area where they crashed.
However, CCTV footage of the incident appears to show the crash was caused by the high-risk stunt.
A source said: ‘The Bangladesh Air Force claimed the crashed YAK 130 fighter jet encountered mechanical failure, resulting in a catastrophic crash in the Patenga area of Chittagong.
‘However, 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.
‘The footage reveals the jet scraping the runway at high speed, causing significant damage to the fuselage and igniting a fire. At the 19-second mark, a slowed-down analysis shows fragments of the aircraft detaching as it rebounds and gets airborne.
‘In the critical moments that followed, as captured in the video, the engine became engulfed in flames, emitting black smoke. The two pilots, demonstrating exceptional skill under pressure, managed to eject from the flaming jet.
‘The ejection, a procedure known to exert enormous g-force on the body, often results in temporary loss of consciousness.’
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