Zaka Ullah Bhangoo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zaka Ullah Bhangoo
19482007
Place of birth Flag of Pakistan Sheikhupura, Pakistan
Place of death Flag of Turkey South-eastern Turkey
Allegiance Flag of Pakistan Pakistan
Service/branch Pakistan Army
Years of service 1968 – ?
Rank Brigadier

Brigadier Zaka Ullah Bhangoo (1948-2007) was a helicopter pilot from the Pakistan Army who after his retirement became involved in flying microlight aircraft. He was killed in a light plane crash in Turkey in May 2007 attempting a flight from the UK to Pakistan.

He was born in 1948 in Sheikhupura, Pakistan, educated at Lawrence College Ghora Gali, and commissioned into the Pakistan Army in 1968. He flew helicopters such as the Alouette and Puma, and fixed wing aircraft such as the O-1 Bird Dog. He also flew helicopters for the Pakistan Air Force's VIP flight for 8 years[1]. In 2001 he and a co-pilot planned to fly a microlight aircraft around the world in 80 days. The plane was a US-made Star Streak aircraft with a top speed of 209 km per hour[2]. The flight did not ultimately take place due to logistical and diplomatic difficulties[3].

In 2007 he was piloting a light plane with an English friend, Mick Newman, on a flight from the UK to Pakistan. The pair had set off in a twin-seater Sky Arrow 650T microlight from Trabzon in Turkey but crashed in south eastern Turkey on 13 May 2007. After the crash, the Daily Telegraph reported that Osman Gunes, the Turkish interior minister was claiming that the pair were being trailed by MIT, the Turkish intelligence services. A Turkish newspaper then claimed that they mighthave been taking nuclear secrets or materials to Iran. These claims were strongly denied by the families[4].

[edit] See also

Video footage of recovery operations after crash in South-east Turkey

[edit] References