A Bangladesh Air Force pilot died after attempting a high-risk ‘Top Gun’ fighter jet stunt in Patenga, Chittagong, on May 9, 2024.
Squadron leader Asim Jawad, 32, was performing aileron rolls at low altitude when the fuselage of the Yakovlev Yak-130 he was flying scraped along the tarmac.
An aileron roll is an aerobatic maneuver in which an aircraft does a full 360-degree revolution about its longitudinal axis.
Jawad and his co-pilot Wing Commander Sohan Hasan Khan both ejected from the aircraft before landing in a river. Both were rushed to a hospital, but Jawad later succumbed to his injuries at around 12:30 local time.
The harrowing incident was caught on CCTV and was posted to X (formerly Twitter).
The 35-second video clip shows the fighter jet flying close to the tarmac while doing aileron rolls. The aircraft can be seen flying increasingly lower while rotating, until the fuselage hits the tarmac.
The Yakovlev Yak-130 is a subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft originally developed by Yakovlev and Aermacchi. The aircraft arrived in Bangladesh in 2015.