KARACHI:
Ehtisham Tariq was spared by an impromptu decision. Just hours before he was scheduled to travel on the Bhoja Air flight, he cancelled his ticket so that he could attend a Basant festival at the Institute of Business and Management.
“I was having dinner with my friends on Thursday night, and they all forced me to change my flight to Sunday instead of Friday. Thank God I did.” A student of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) in Islamabad, the 21-year-old was in Karachi to meet his family.
Tariq is staying away from air travel for now. Having refunded his ticket, he will travel to Islamabad via a Daewoo bus. “At least I’ll get to the place in one piece,” he said nervously.
Another passenger who cancelled his tickets for Friday’s plane was Samar Abbas, who was going to Skardu via Islamabad with his wife, young son and niece. “My son suddenly fell ill and the doctor advised us not to travel.” Abbas says he will leave for the capital on Monday but on another airline. “Bhoja can’t be trusted now. I will never travel on it again.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.
COMMENTS (17)
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I think the bigger culprit in this whole episode is the regulator. It is their responsibility to make sure that regular, random and proper inspections are being made to make sure the aircraft's are meeting International Standards.
@ Kishore, there is no such thing as soul. Humans are machines just like cars and planes. The perception of Soul, God, Heaven, Hell, everything finishes when brain dies. Thats how nature works
Don't change the ride! Your time can come anywhere and if it's not your time your will be the only survivor. Do your prayer even on bus(20,000) get killed on the road, Air Travel not even 500 in a year.
It was Allah's will,very true. But who gave the lisence to this airline to fly grounded airplanes...Is there anybody RESPONSIBLE in this country for playing with the lives of innocent citizens.......
@Bakir Mukeem, The soul is eternal,part and parcel of God,never dies.It is the temporary body that dies.The soul is the self.Due to constant association with the body we think the body to be self.Our personality is an emanation from the soul not the body.The body is dead.Only its association with the soul animates it.Kind regards.
@ MAD just today Fuel tank and tyres of Shaheen burst.
@Adil: "Allah makes the best plans!"
I'm sure the families of 127 passengers would disagree. As would the families of the Siachen soldiers. Or murdered Hazaras.
Stuff happens in life, good and bad. Either God is involved in both, or in neither.
So he is still going to travel by air anyways. IMO, all Paki airlines are the same. Only names are different. I suggest that media should refrain from approaching those who missed the flight. They are already shocked. They should not be bothered to extract their side of stories. Two domestic flights crashing on the same route..Its not bad luck. Its the peacefully asleep regulators in Pak.
every living soul will die at some stage, no one gets out alive.............
If you have seen that movie final destination - you can't cheat death it's going to come one way or the other ..let's just hope when it does come its peaceful and we atleast get to say our "good-byes" to our family and loved ones
@Noor: And i don't agree with your Sir! Considering it was the first inaugural flight on this route, the airline management should have been extremely stringent so as not to have even minor flaws unattended, leave alone having technical/mechanical flaws with the aircraft itself ! If this is the standard they intend to exhibit on day one...you can well imagine what they'd be doing later on when the management gets even more complacent !
People say that Basant take lives but this times one person was saved thanks to Basant..:)
BTW Shaheen the ony airline with a clean record now. Bhoja n Airblue one crash each, PIA several over the course of its history. Last in 2006
“Bhoja can’t be trusted now. I will never travel on it again.”
i don't agree with this statement..... its not about Bhoja... that is an accident to happen no matter what is the airline. so thanx to Almighty God you guys are fine.. may Allah bless you and your families.
So did they miss their flight or reschedule? Please learn to keep consistency between headlines and the text
allah makes the best plans!