New Pilot Took Over Just Before Flight

In a new twist to the probe into the recent aircrash in Pakistan which killed the Air Chief and top Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officers, it has now been learned that the pilot was changed at the last moment and villagers near the crash site had heard gunshots and found a Kalashnikov and bullets nearby, diplomatic sources said over the weekend.
The Inquiry Committee, headed by Air Vice Marshal Khalid Chowdhury, has found that the pilot of the ill-fated plane was changed barely 20-25 minutes before take-off, they said.

You Just Don't Do That 

The panel has also interrogated the pilot originally slated to fly the military leaders and their families, adding it is never a practice even in civilian aircraft to change the captain at the very last moment.

The crash in the Kohat area claimed 17 lives including that of Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir (above, seated on left), his wife and two Deputy Chiefs of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Abdul Razzaq and Air Vice Marshal Saleem A Nawaz.

The sources said Mir, who was handpicked by Gen Pervez Musharraf after superceding at least six PAF officers, had lately developed differences with the Pakistan President over the granting of airbase and facilities to FBI in connection with the raids being conducted against al Qaeda-Taliban remnants in North West Frontier Province.

The Inquiry Committee, which is still continuing its probe, has not ruled out sabotage as the aircraft was declared fit just before it took off.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed has said he suspected sabotage and asked why so many senior officers were accompanying the Air Chief in the same aircraft.

FMI: www.pakistanairforce.gov.pk