They missed their flight – and lived to share their tale

My friends forced me to change my flight to Sunday instead of Friday. Thank God I did, says Tariq.

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.
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