New Delhi: In a new twist to the probe into the recent air crash in Pakistan which killed the Air Chief and top Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officers, it has now been learnt 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 on March 9.

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.

The probe panel has also interrogated the pilot who was originally supposed to have flown, they said, 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 had claimed 17 lives including that of Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, 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 superseding at least six PAF officers, had lately developed differences with the Pakistan President over the granting of air base and facilities to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in connection with the raids being conducted against al-Qaida- Taleban 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.

PTI