Plane crash: Grandma makes lucky escape

Witnesses say plane plummeted towards ground after engine shut. PHOTOS: IJAZ MAHMOOD/EXPRESS

Bushra Bibi was enjoying the weather whilst resting on a swing outside her house in H Block when the two-seater Cessna crashed. “She was just feet away from the crash but she was unaware as she has hearing problems,” said Ayesha Hussain, Bushra Bibi’s granddaughter.

“My brother Umar was in the TV lounge and the windows broke. He ran outside and brought her in with my grandfather,” she said.

They spent the next few minutes wondering whether they should throw water on the wreck to prevent an explosion or stay inside where it was safe, she said. Eventually, her brother and grandfather did throw some water on the plane, she said.

Iftikhar Shah, who lives next door, said he spotted the aircraft when it was very close to the ground and he ran inside for fear he would be caught in an explosion. “I’ve seen the family there sitting in the driveway when the sun is out,” he said. “Luckily they were not there today.”

Irfan Ali, a driver in a nearby house, said he was sitting outside with some other people when he saw the plane falling towards them. “At first we thought it was deliberately doing somersaults. But it was too close to the ground and we realised that it was falling,” he said.

“We ran inside and there was a loud bang. We lay down on the ground. After a few seconds I looked outside and saw the plane had crashed into the house across the street.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2012.