A ‘Top Gun’ stunt 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-type stunt with three low-altitude flap turns when the fuselage of his Yakovlev Yak-130 scraped the runway.
CCTV shows smoke and sparks billowing from the Russian-made plane before Jawad took off from the runway in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on May 9.
But a fire had already broken out in the rear of the plane and Bangladesh Air Force pilot Jawad and his co-pilot, Wing Commander Sohan Hasan Khan, 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-type stunt with three low-altitude flap turns when the fuselage of his Yakovlev Yak-130 skimmed the runway (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 billowing from the Russian-made plane before Jawad took off from the runway in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on May 9. But a fire had already broken out in the rear of the plane and the Bangladesh Air Force pilot, Jawad, and his companion. -Wing Commander pilot Sohan Hasan Khan both expelled
The aircraft was later recovered from the water. The government’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the training aircraft had “crashed due to mechanical failure”.
They claimed the pilots maneuvered the plane away from the densely populated area near the airport toward the sparsely populated area where they crashed.
However, CCTV footage of the incident appears to show that the accident was caused by a high-risk stunt.
A source said: “Bangladesh Air Force claimed that the crashed YAK 130 fighter jet suffered a mechanical failure, leading to a catastrophic accident in the Patenga area of Chittagong.
‘However, recently obtained CCTV footage from the runway area contradicts this BAF claim, showing a chilling sequence in which the plane attempts to perform three consecutive flap rolls at a dangerously low altitude, nearly colliding with the runway at the process.
‘The images show that the plane skimmed the runway at high speed, causing significant damage to the fuselage and starting a fire. At the 19-second mark, a slowed down scan shows fragments of the plane breaking off as it bounces and takes off.
‘In the critical moments that followed, as captured in the video, the engine was engulfed in flames, emitting black smoke. The two pilots, demonstrating exceptional skill under pressure, managed to eject from the burning plane.
“Expulsion, a procedure known to exert enormous G-force on the body, often results in a temporary loss of consciousness.”