Bangladesh's China-made F-7 Fighter Jet Crashes In Bay of Bengal

A Bangladesh Air Force’s F-7 fighter aircraft has crashed into Bay of Bengal after taking off from the Zahurul Haque base in South eastern city of the country.

The pilot of the F-7 fighter, Flight Lieutenant ‘Tahmid’, is reported missing, Chittagong airport’s manager Wing Commander Nur E Alam was quoted as saying by bdnews24.com today. He added that the F-7 aircraft crashed into the sea six miles off the Patenga beach.

The F-7 was used as a training aircraft. The control tower lost contact with the aircraft. At 11:45am it was confirmed that the plane had crashed into the sea, he said.

Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate Assistant Director Nur Islam added, “We are not yet certain as to how the plane went missing. A probe committee will be formed to ascertain the cause.” Coast Guard, Navy and Chittagong Port Authority were jointly conducting the search and rescue operation.

The export version of J-7 has been designated as F-7. The J-7 is a single-engine, lightweight fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China.