Pilot dies after attempting high-risk ‘Top Gun’ stunt in fighter jet

This is the shocking moment a fighter jet bounced off a runway before the pilot ejected and died.Squadron leader Asim Jawad, 32, appeared to be attempting Top Gun style three aileron rolls at low altitude when the fuselage of the Yakovlev Yak-130 scraped along the tarmac. CCTV shows smoke and sparks erupting from the Russian-made jet before Asim pulled up and appeared to be circling the runway in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on May 9.However, the footage shows a sudden explosion before Bangladesh Air Force pilot Asim and his co-pilot Wing Commander Sohan Hasan Khan both ejected.Local media reported that the two pilots both landed in the Karnaphuli River before being rescued by members of the air force, navy and local fishermen.Asim later died in hospital while Sohan remains in critical condition at the Banouja Isa Khan Hospital in Patenga. 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.'