On July 22, a fighter jet from the Bangladeshi Air Force crashed in the campus of a school in the capital Dhaka while carrying out a routine training mission. The military cited mechanical failure as the cause of the crash. The tragic incident resulted in the deaths of at least 31 people, with a majority of them being children.
According to information from military and fire officials, the Chinese-made F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed on Monday afternoon in the campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara, a northern area of Dhaka, when students were attending classes.
This is the deadliest airplane crash to occur in the capital region of Bangladesh in recent years.
The F-7 BGI that crashed shortly after takeoff is a light combat aircraft, reported by Jane’s Information Group. It is the final model in the Chengdu J-7/F-7 series. The Chengdu J-7 (J-7) is a licensed production model of the Soviet-era MiG-21 used for training and limited combat missions, with the F-7 being the export version of the J-7.
The Bangladesh Air Force has been using derivative models of the F-7 aircraft since the 1980s. Dhaka signed a contract in 2011 to purchase 16 BGI model aircraft and completed delivery in 2013, which constituted the final batch of manufacturing for the F-7 fighters.
China had been producing these fighters from 1965 to 2013, making it one of the longest-serving fighter aircraft models in Chinese history. Due to their affordability, these aircraft were exported to developing countries.
The retirement of the J-7 fighter from the People’s Liberation Army of China was completed by the end of 2023, although several countries still use its export version.
Countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran, and North Korea have either used or currently use modified versions of the J-7 aircraft.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies in London has reported that Pakistan is the largest user of the J-7 fighters, with 66 in possession.
In May 2025, a Zimbabwean pilot lost his life in a routine F-7 flight when his aircraft crashed.
In June 2022, a J-7 fighter jet crashed into a residential building in Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, causing at least one fatality on the ground.
In May 2022, two Iranian pilots lost their lives when the F-7 aircraft they were flying in crashed during a training mission near Anarak, 125 miles east of Isfahan.
In January 2022, a variant of the F-7, the FT-7, crashed, resulting in the deaths of two Pakistani Air Force pilots.
Pakistan has also seen numerous accidents related to F-7 fighters, leading to fatalities among pilots.