MOHAMMAD Zubair had never met with an accident in his entire life but when he did, nobody believed him. Seriously!

Even in his childhood the 26-year-old had never fallen while playing; he himself wonders how he never got scratches on his knees or elbows during school life, unlike almost every other child. The engineer by profession counts himself lucky that he never slipped while riding a bike on the bumpy and dilapidated roads of Karachi. The youngest among six siblings, he was brought up as “darling” of the family amid much care and fondness.

He encountered a particularly bad situation for the first and last time exactly a year ago. Zubair, along with 98 other people on board Airbus A320 on Pakistan International Airline’s flight 8303 crashed into the densely-populated neighbourhood of Model Colony — hardly a couple of kilometres from Karachi airport. And he came out of it alive!

Of the 99 on board, Zubair was one of the two people who survived the deadly crash. He and senior banker Zafar Masud became headlines of the local and international media networks on May 22, 2020 and were treated like celebrities after their miraculous stories of survival became known widely.

“I only remember a glimpse of light after regaining consciousness following the crash amid thick smoke, fire and distant noise of people shouting and yelling,” recalls Zubair. “I came out from one of the windows of the crashed plane and found myself on the rooftop of a home. Not fully in my senses, I finally found the stairs. I moved to the stairs and saw a man and a woman of the house running down the staircase. I joined them and finally came out of the street where the plane had crashed.”

He recalls how after coming out of the crash site he was not believed by onlookers and even rescuers that he was one of the passengers. It took Zubair some time to convince them that he was a lucky survivor so they could call an ambulance and take him to hospital for treatment of his minor injuries and burn wounds.

But a year on, not many characters and lives attached to PIA’s Flight 8303 crash are lucky enough. On the first anniversary of the incident, it seems the stories of Zubair and Masud are the only positives that came out of the episode. The 97 other persons are in fact reflections of the country’s typical red-tapism and justice system.

Just a day before Eid, the Karachi Press Club gives a reality check on this tragic fact. More than a dozen men and women, standing outside the club and carrying placards, panaflex posters with photographs of 97 lives lost in the crash and visibly shattered and aggrieved share their pain with media personnel.

For them, justice is still awaited. Among them is Junaid Hamid, a 2010 Airblue crash affectee who founded Airblue Crash Affectees Association — a body recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), with an aim to promote safe air travel and in case of any accident to pressurise the authorities for an independent and impartial inquiry and make the inquiry public.

“Unfortunately, Pakistan had the highest rate of aviation disasters during the last decade,” he says showing facts and referring to the record of international aviation industry. “Does it sound normal? Absolutely not. There must be a reason for it. We have the right to know who’s at fault? This must be stopped and stopped immediately.”

Azmat Yar Khan lost his brother and niece in the crash. After suffering tragedy and pain, his family has been going through other challenges as well. Each day they wake up with the hope that their miseries may finally come to an end. How he sums up his experiences since the air crash is a matter of great concern.

“This incident has brought us all [affected families] together,” he says. “What we have learnt is that only families of 36 [out of 97 victims] have been paid compensation so far and most of them are the families of the PIA crew who lost their lives in the crash. Others are being offered compensation with certain conditions.

“Many of our colleagues here have already rejected the compensation, because it is being offered on the condition that we would not ask for a probe [into the crash]. We would not make noise for impartial inquiry and to make the report public.”

He is seconded by Dr Mohammad Mohsin Aman, the family member of another victim. “[For us] the most worrying among the conditions laid out before the families is that they can accept the compensation or insurance money only if they would not question the findings of the crash investigations or challenge them in any court of law,” he says.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s slogan of justice seems to be fading before the small number of people who are openly sharing what they have gone through in their experiences with the PIA and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) managements since the May 22 tragedy.

The claims they are making are not mere allegations but should set alarm bells ringing in the power corridors, which vowed to bring reforms in the affairs of national flag carrier before it is too late. However, for some families it is already too late.

“I lost my father [Mohammad Saleem Aslam] in the crash,” says Zarka Khalid Chaudhary. “My mother couldn’t handle that grief and passed away within 21 days of the terrible tragedy. We are here to share what we have been facing afterwards and all that we want is to prevent such a tragedy in future. We have certain expectations from the government, PIA, CAA, courts and the cabinet. We don’t want anyone else to go through what we have been facing. It is what helps us move on, with our mission.”

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2021