Squadron members mourns fighter pilot from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force Feng Siguang. (Xinhua Photo)

JINAN: A fighter pilot from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force sacrificed himself to avoid a crowded city when his engine failed in a low-altitude nighttime training mission.

Captain Feng Siguang and his squadron leader Zhang Deshan were taking-off in their two-seat fighter jet on the evening of May 6 when the aircraft lost engine power and went down with its nose up toward a heavily populated urban area in Jinan, capital city of east China's Shandong province.

The fighter jet, carrying 800 liters of fuel, was only 50 meters above the ground, which left the two pilots with only a few seconds to deal with the situation.

The airbase control tower ordered Feng and Zhang to eject immediately after the veteran squadron leader reported the emergency.

But Feng and Zhang strived to make pitchdown maneuvers to make the fighter crash away from the area where 4,000 civilians live.

Zhang successfully bailed out but 28-year-old Feng Siguang crash landed in his ejection seat because the seat's parachute failed to open as it was only 32 meters above the ground.

"The only thing we thought about before ejecting was protection of the civilians and facilities below us," said Zhang in an interview with Xinhua in a military hospital in Jinan, his right ankle broken.