The Real side of a story which
is so scaring for those who wanted to catch and control the power at any cost
(surely with the "ASHIRBAAD" of USA and the Western Powers ) and who are
fortunately are enjoying the powers at their respective constituncies. (The two
having most Provincials powers at their proivinces of the Country ). The poor
General what he gets you know better, and the others get exactly what we can see
around.
Dear I was often asked about that fateful day when Gen. Musharraf took over.
This is what happened as narrated by an eyewitness. I could not have written a
more riveting account and I can vouch for its authenticity. I myself had talked
to Capt. Sarwat at one time and he substantiated what is essentially written
here.
The aircraft hikjack case is under appeal in Supreme Court and Nawaz Sharif's
Liar ( lawyer) has been talking crap about what took place. All the Court has to
do is go over the statements of the Pilot , evidence of the approver and the
record of the Court which convicted him.
Varris
REAL LIFE DRAMA IN THE AIR
(Remembering 12th October, 1999)
October, 1999 Capt Sarwat of Pakistan International Airlines Airbus-300, an old
buddy, and I had gone to Colombo, Sri Lanka for Airlanka Golf classic
tournament.
On the 10th October, after returning from the 18th hole (towards the finish of
the game) that I saw General Pervez Musharraf (chief of Joint staff and Chief of
the army staff) teeing- off with the Bangladeshi COAS for a friendly match. Gen
Musharraf had gone to Colombo to represent Pakistan on the 50th anniversary of
Sri Lankan armed forces. On the 12th October we were to return back to Pakistan
and our flight route was Colombo-Male (Maldives)–Karachi. The flight time
between Male and Karachi was almost three and a half hours. Capt. Sarwat was
Commander of the flight PK/805 and I was traveling as a passenger in the club
class but being cockpit crew of PIA I could visit the cockpit with the consent
of the Capt. of the flight. The First officer of the flight was Mr. Shami {who
was on his first clearance check flight to Sri Lanka} and the flight engineer
Mr. Amir. Gen Pervez Musharraf boarded the plane with his wife and two of his
personal staff officers. Gen. Musharraf and his wife were seated in the front
extreme right hand side seats and the PSO’s occupied the last two seats on the
same side. There were a total of 198 persons aboard that flight out of which
almost 50 were children from the American school with six foreign teachers.
The flight to Male was bumpy due to rain and clouds. At Male, which was a
transit stop, Gen. Musharraf, his wife and the PSO’s disembarked to see the
strange looking island which had nothing but just a runway strip. At Male, Capt.
Sarwat after getting the weather information of Karachi and Nawabshah decided to
refuel the aircraft, keeping Nawabshah airfield as an alternative (Nawabshah
airfield is almost 110 nautical miles north east of Karachi). It meant that the
aircraft could reach Karachi and in contingency could divert to Nawabshah and
keep flying in air for another 45 minutes before landing at Nawabshah
which is normally the fuel policy of the airlines throughout the world.
The departure from Male was uneventful. The airplane started cruising at 29000
feet, I was sitting in the cockpit jump seat and occasionally would stand up to
stretch and walk in the cabin. During the flight, the air guards and the cabin
crew requested Gen Pervez Musharraf for individual and group photographs. Capt
Sarwat also came to the club class from the cockpit to greet the VIP. After two
and half hours of flight and now cruising at 33000 feet, we established contact
with Karachi air traffic controller. The first thing the Karachi radio
controller asked was how much fuel was on board? What was our alternate
airfield? And how many passengers were on board? I was standing behind the
flight Engineer’s seat and listening to the whole conversation through the
cockpit speakers. On hearing this I did point out to Capt. Sarwat “Isn’t it
strange for Karachi to be asking this?” to which he nodded “yes”. It was a
clear night and probably the third of moon was out but we could later on see
Karachi very clearly. The initial approach given to us was direct Marvi
(shortest route) but after a while Karachi changed the clearance via Nansi (the
longer route) and gave us descent clearance to 10000ft. As the airplane reached
almost within 60 miles the Karachi tower said “PK /805 you are not cleared to
land at Karachi”. “Can we proceed to Nawabshah?” Capt Sarwat asked ATC after
pondering for a little while as to what must be going on down below. “Nawabshah
is also closed” came the reply. “But Nawabshah is our alternate!” said Capt
Sarwat forcefully. Karachi ATC said “you will land at your own risk you cannot
land in Pakistan. All airfields are closed”. “We do not have fuel for any other
airfield!” Capt. Sarwat replied but once again but there was complete silence
from the ATC. The Karachi ATC was questioned thrice but all in vain ---- there
was no answer. During the ATC conversation it seemed quite obvious that someone
behind the controller was passing the instruction because more than three or
more persons could be heard in the background of the reception. A KLM flight
which was somewhere in air and listening to this conversation also shouted,
"Karachi why don’t you give the reason to the PK 805". While the commotion was
on, Capt Sarwat assumed that perhaps it may be due to the VIP sitting aboard.
Sarwat knowing my air force background asked me and the other crew “Partner what
do you think, should I tell the general about this?” I butted in and said why
not, let’s get whatever help we can!” Capt called the purser and asked him to
inform the personal staff officers of the general. Both the PSO’s were informed
and they came rushing into the cockpit. After listening to the Capt. they went
to inform the General. Meanwhile Capt Sarwat asked the flight engineer as to how
much fuel was left, and if we could make it to Muscat. “No way, we have only
five and a half tons of fuel left at this 10000 feet altitude” he calculated.
Meanwhile General Musharraf had entered the cockpit. During the discussion
between the flight crew members, two other alternate airfields for diversion
were considered. Chahbahar in Iran and Ahmedabad in India. After a little
discussion with the flight engineer regarding remaining fuel and new airfield
and night landing facility, Chahbahar was not considered as an alternate
airfield. “Do we have the approach and landing information on Ahmedabad? Please
open and consult Jeppesen (the flight crew bible} immediately” Sarwat asked the
co-pilot.
General Musharraf was listening to the conversation and he asserted “We will not
go to India, that is not an option”, to which Capt Sarwat said “okay General as
you say.” Now the Gen said that he wanted to talk to the Corp commander Karachi,
immediately. After a while the PSO gave the mobile telephone number to the
flight engineer and wrote the land telephone number of the Corp. Commander.
Karachi. The flight engineer Amir tried many times to dial the telephone but
there was no dial tone. In this hurry and in presence of the general, the flight
engineer mishandled his flash light and broke its glass. The flight engineer
Amir said we are not getting the connection through and it seems as if the
telephone lines have been cut. The general then asked as to why we couldn’t
speak on the long range radio- the high frequency. The flight engineer tried to
establish contact through company high frequency phone patch but it was all
quiet, and no answer was received.
The other airplanes flying in Karachi vicinity were instructed by the Karachi
ATC to divert because Karachi airport was closed. An aircraft of Pakistan Air
Force which was in inbound to Karachi from Islamabad was instructed by the
Karachi air traffic controller to land at
Nawabshah, immediately. But the PAF Captain was not willing to accept this order
and asserted that the PAF flight would go back to Islamabad. While the argument
between the PAF aircraft and Karachi ATC were going on the Capt Sarwat changed
the radio frequency. However later on I investigated about the PAF flight and I
found out that it was a Boeing 737 VIP aircraft, which was on routine
maintenance trip to Karachi but was forced to land at Nawabshah airfield. The
police at Nawabshah, with special instructions was waiting for the two engine
jet aircraft. Since it is difficult for a common man to distinguish between a
Boeing 737 and an Airbus A-300, therefore Nawabshah police cordoned off the
aircraft after parking. But as the doors were opened Pakistani Army soldiers
rushed to the aircraft and shouted at the police to buzz off otherwise they
would be shot at. The Police dispersed and now the army took charge of the
aircraft. An Army officer entered the aircraft. To their dismay, they found the
wife and children of the PAF Capt sitting inside, “Where is the General?”
inquired the army officer. “What General?” asked the crew? PAF crew told them
that they were going to Karachi from Islamabad. “But we were told that you are
coming from Colombo” said the officer surprised
In the air at the very same time, the first officer of the aircraft saw two
blips on traffic collision avoidance system and shouted “We are being
intercepted; probably there are two fighter aircraft”.
The conversation in the cockpit our plane had become tense and was blended with
other actions in the cockpit, which had become rather twice demanding. I noticed
that at no point any of the crew or the VIP lost their cool. The general
insisted several times that we land at Karachi. He also inquired as to why we
couldn’t land at the air force runways at Karachi. But probably due to the
fighter aircraft and no knowledge as to what was happening below on ground, with
no runway lights landing at PAF Airfields was considered as the last option. If
we could not land at Karachi or at Nawabshah due to runway blockade with
tractors and bulldozers etc then Shahrah-e-Faisal or Masroor was the last option
anyways. At this point Capt Sarwat changed to PIA company radio channel. Sarwat
was asked about the remaining fuel.
Someone at the company channel directed PK805 to proceed and land at Nawabshah,
then refuel the airplane with 30 tones of fuel and once again get airborne and
wait for further instructions.
After a few minutes, the Karachi ATC came on air and cleared PK805 to divert to
Nawabshah. . Capt Sarwat then heaved a sigh of relief and said “Let’s go to
Nawabshah”. The Airbus climbed like a missile to 20000 feet in no time since
there was hardly any fuel left in the aircraft and it was rather light. At about
60 miles north of Karachi PK805 was redirected to come and land at Karachi by
the Karachi ATC. A quick turnabout and descent was initiated. Someone from the
ATC asked to speak to the general. Capt Sarwat gave his microphone to the
general and said, “Sir please speak”.
“This is Pervez Musharraf, who is there?” the general inquired very assertively.
“I am Gen. Iftikhar sir, your retirement was announced two hours before but we
are in control. Please land at Karachi “Where is the Corp Commander?” the
general questioned “He is in the next room waiting for you “was the reply. Both
the PSO’s were listening and the younger PSO (a Major) said” Sir, ask him the
name of his dog". Probably he wanted to be sure in recognizing the GOC, but the
general who had kept his cool all along said confidently, “He is my man, don’t
worry!”(Later on this officer on ground happened to be a friend of
mine who told me that General Musharraf had given him two puppies and that’s how
the PSO wanted to determine his identity)
Meanwhile he plane was reaching for its final approach. Suddenly the low fuel
warning light of right wing fuel tank came on with an audio chime. The cockpit
was dead silent and everyone was waiting to feel the touchdown as soon as
possible. We had waited almost one hour and ten minutes in the air. The
remaining fuel of 1.2 ton in the wing tanks, if reliable, was only available for
approximately ten minutes of flight time. At twelve miles short of landing, the
left wing fuel tank warning light also appeared with chime.
After touch down PK 805 was asked to park at the remote area (Bay 66) and was
informed that no other person than the VIP will come out of the aircraft. After
the engines shut down, the army soldiers who were almost two hundred
cordoned-off the aircraft. The General was looking from the cockpit window and
seemed relaxed. Before disembarking from the aircraft the general shook hands
with all of us and said, "Thank you, don’t worry all is well, he’s my man.” And
he immediately passed his very first order through his PSO,
“Tell them I don’t want anyone to leave the country.”
The General, his wife, who was trying to control her tears, and the two PSO’s
disembarked from the plane and were greeted by the Corp. Commander and the GOC
with salutes from the soldiers. They all went inside a building for a short
conference, which took almost 15 min after which the whole contingent drove away
very fast. PK805 was not allowed to start the engines perhaps because of the
security and almost no remaining fuel and was thus towed to the international
arrival side (Bay 23).
During the whole episode I was the quietest and the closest observer in the
cockpit and was thoroughly impressed to watch total professionalism from Capt
Sarwat and his crew. Not to mention the way General carried himself and remained
confident and totally composed throughout the whole episode.
Capt. Tariq