LONDON: Four Pakistanis were believed to be among the 51 passengers who died aboard the Ariana Afghan Airlines 727-Boeing jetliner which crashed early today [Jan 5] while trying to land in dense fog at Gatwick Airport near London. The Ariana Boeing which flew from Kabul by way of Kandhar, Beirut, Istanbul and Frankfurt carried 54 passengers and a crew of nine. ... Most of the other passengers were Indian Sikhs. The aircraft Afghan Commander Captain Nowroz is one of the 13 survivors.

The Ariana Airlines jet was the first aircraft to attempt a landing at Gatwick since the airport was closed by fog at 4 a.m. on Saturday. The airport control is understood to have told the captain that the visibility was less than 300 metres but he decided to attempt a landing. As it approached airport at 2-30 a.m., the Boeing hit a house half a mile east of the runway and crashed on a farm nearby. A couple sleeping in the house hit by the aircraft was killed. The aircraft burst into flames as it hit the ground and several loud explosions were heard.

The survivors pulled out of the aircraft’s burning wreckage owe their lives as much to providence as to extremely efficient rescue work by the British Police, airport authorities and the villagers of Horley who joined the rescue operations.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2020