Adil Najam
(Note: A full list of passengers on the plane and a phone number where more information can be obtained is available here).
There is little except words of condolence and silent prayers that one can offer to those who have lost their loved ones in the fatal crash of Airblue flight ABQ-202. They will have to live with the loss and the agony forever. Our words will change little, but they are one way to cope with the cold chill that runs down one’s spine as one reads the details of what happened in the skies over Margalla Hills..
In the four plus years we have run this blog, we have had to do too much mourning of Pakistanis dying needlessly.One of the very first times we had to write such a post was of another plane crash – PIA’s Fokker crash in July 2006 that killed 45. Since then it has been needless dying galore of Pakistanis.
The pain gets into the very marrow of the bones of all of us. But it never becomes less painful. You never get used to it. Each time is like a ton of bricks hitting you. Then, something like this happens and it hurts even more. Maybe, because there is no one to lash out against. All you can do is to offer words of condolence and silent prayers to those who have lost their loved ones. You know the words will change nothing, but you hope they will offer some solace in solidarity to the grieved, and maybe some little venting to your own pain.
The news is now known to all. There were no survivors. Here are some details from Dawn:
There were no survivors from the Airblue passenger plane that crashed in the Margalla Hills in Islamabad on Wednesday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. “There are no survivors. We believe all are dead. We are recovering the remains of the dead bodies from the wreckage,” Imtiaz Elahi, chairman of Islamabad’s Capital Development Authority told Reuters. Elahi said earlier reports of five survivors from the crash were wrong and that all 152 on board the plane were killed. Meanwhile, the city’s police chief said rescue workers had recovered dead bodies of more than 100 people from the wreckage of the plane. “More than 100 bodies have been found. We have not yet found any survivor or injured,” Bani Amin Khan told AFP. “The search is continuing,” he added. Meanwhile, the plane’s black box was also recovered, the Civil Aviation Authority said.
… “I along with four other police and rescue officials reached the crash site. The debris of the plane was scattered there in raging fire. The plane had struck a ridge which fell on the wreckage,” official Arshad Javed said. “All we could see were charred hands or feet. I collected two heads, two legs and two hands in a bag.” The plane was flying from Karachi to Islamabad and the exact cause of the crash was not immediately clear. The aircraft had lost contact with the control tower during the crash which occurred amid thick fog and heavy rainfall in Islamabad. Guards with the forestry service said they had found some wreckage and seen some bodies, police official Mohammad Saeed said. The army said it was sending special troops to the area to help out along with helicopters.
… One Saqlain Altaf told a private television news channel that he was on a family outing in the hills when he saw the plane, looking unsteady in the air. ”The plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down,” he said, adding he heard the crash. Thick clouds of smoke were rising from the Margalla Hills. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered authorities to control the fire immediately and rescue passengers. The government declared a day of national mourning and called off a cabinet meeting that was scheduled for today.
… Raheel Ahmed, a spokesman for Airblue, said an investigation would be launched, but that for now the focus was to find survivors. The plane was no more than eight years old, and it had no known technical issues, Ahmed said. He added that to his knowledge, the pilots had not sent any emergency signals. Airblue flies within Pakistan as well as internationally to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the United Kingdom. The only previous recorded accident for Airblue, a carrier that began flying in 2004, was a tailstrike in May 2008 at Quetta airport by one of the airline’s Airbus 321 jets.
… There were no casualties and damage was minimal, according to the US-based Aviation Safety Network.
The airliner began operations in 2004 with a fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, the company said on its website. The plane that crashed on Wednesday was also built by Airbus, the European planemaker said. “We regret to confirm there has been an accident with an Airbus aircraft and we will provide more information when we have more confirmed data available,” Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said. According to the latest available data published by Airbus, Airblue operates six aircraft from its A320 family of short-haul and medium-haul aircraft seating up to 185 passengers.
Another tragedy strikes our beloved yet befallen motherland. It’s ironic that Mr. Obama offers his condolences to the families of the agrieved. His “humanitarian” forces have killed what, 1,000 to 2,000 innocent civilians in Pakistani drone attacks? Those lives must be disposable because they are mostly the unwashed masses and “The U.S. does not comment on ‘ongoing operations.'”
Heartbreaking indeed.
There is something fishy about this. Why would the plane just blow up with no reason and its a new plane.
Yet more comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “Bs afsos ka muqam hy. Per hm sb asay he hain. In sb se “used to”ho gay hain”
– “i agree with u both ^ .. i think kuch log sarmad ki bt ko galat interpret ker gye .. all he’s sayin is that .. agr in logo k liyay soug hai tou un logo k liyay b hna chye .. that’s it”
– “we Pakistanis, Emotions control us, we dont control our emotions..”
– “Jo mar rahe hen ya marchuke hen blasts me ya target killing me….woto begunah mare gai or shaheed hoke hamesha keliye jannat me chale gae.,ab jo peeche rehgae hen wo sochen ke ham mare gae ya mar gae to kia kam aaega?jahan takhukoomat or hukmarano ki bat he to bhai seedhi si bat he jesi awam wese hukmaran,roads pe chale jao ya bazaro me,sabzi wale ke pas chale jao ya kfc chale jao,ameer ke pas chale chahe ghareeb ke pas,80% ke pas akhlaq nam ki cheez nai he,har koi har kisi se kisi na kisi waja se nafrat ka pahar liye betha hota he…ye un musalmanu ka hal he jinke bare(sahaba) ke akhlaq aese the ke kafir unka rawayya unki tijarat dekh kar musalaman hojate,hamare akhlaq angrez legai or shayad badtameezi or badmashi ka kuch hissa tohfe me dete gae..
sb ko apni islah or apne gireban me jhank kar dekhne ki zarurat he,wahan log margae or hamy ahan apne apne dilon ki bharas nikal rahe tuff he ham sb par,sb par,awam aesi he to hukumat 100% aesi hi honi chaiye.”
– “^pehli baat .. bharas koi nae nikal rha … discuss ker rae hain .. aik bt kahi hai usne .. ksi ko hazam nae hui .. kya bt thi ? .. agr un k liyay sog hain tou un k liyay b hna chye .. itni c bt ko kya bna dia .. koi bharas keh ra hai .. koi usay insaan e nae smjh ra .. koi keh ra hai he’s mentally ill .. hah Allah k bando kya galat bt ki hai usne jo yeh yeh kaha ja ra hai usay ? ap ko bt thk lagti hai tou keh do thk hai .. nae lgti theek tou keh do nae thk sath apni reason bta do k shyd uski islaah o jye … yeh bharas .. mentally ill .. insaan nae tm .. yeh sb kya hai ?”
– “Very tragic…. Sorry for the families who lost their loved ones.”
– “galt bat ni ki ,,he is rite bt un ko jo aj hua us p afsos hona chayaye n hai b ,,is liye he is not wrong i thing ,, agar ap politics ki bat krte hain to plz lev it ,,may b ye b uno ne i krwaya ho ,, anythng can b expected by our government
44 minutes ago · Like · · ”
– “nae yr politics ki bt koi nae ker ra .. itni bt hui k jis tarah hmein in logo ka afsoos hwa isi tarah hmein apne un bhaiyo behnaun ka b afsoos hna chye .. itni bt ki hai usne .. mai heran hu k kya kya kaha logo ne usay .. mentally ill .. ye wo .. khair .. Allah un families ko himat de jinhaun ne apnaun ko khoya .. Ameen”
– “please i request you guyzz to make DUA for our lost brother’s and sister’s rahter then jst discussing irrelevant topic..we can leave that for later..many thnx plz pray with me all MAY ALLAH grant all of our lost brothers and sister with jannah and give patience to their family and friends in this sorrow and grief…AMEEN”
– “^another negative reply …
pehli bt .. topic was long over :)
dusri bt .. the topic wasn’t irrelevant :)
teesri bt .. abi abi we prayed :) “
More comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “why i have no right to join this page? stop being an EXTREMIST PATRIOT! be a patriot in normal way! If u dont agree with me, give me a reason as i respect everyone’s comment on this platform!”
– “I m not dragging politics, i m a non political person, but lets just think of it as a human…as u are saying…
I am sad about all what happened, because, people are already dying, and now this, the plane crash…
and yes exactly, every tragedy is to be mourned for sometime, but our government is not doing this.”
– “u just need to learn, what to talk and when to talk. just follow that, you might be right sometime, but at the moment, your comments look quite stupid and non serious !”
– “Stupid? just because i m going in the other way? i m posting something that is not according to ur taste?”
– “rest in peace those who passed away ameen.”
– “We just know what we see on t.V. Media is responisible for all of our thoughts now a days. And the people who are saying that its not the right time to speak. Are ignoring the facts. Alas ! We don’t have time to think of our poor brothers. Yeah as he said because they are third class them thay don’t have right to moun. They should always remain behind the scene. Because they don’t deserve live a happy life.”
– “media is responsible too, they discuss everything in between 48 hours and then they don’t even bother to discuss it.”
– “bat bilkul sahi he,lekin har bat moqe ke hisab se bolni chahiye….apni halat to check karen ham log?kis jungle se aae hen sare? kuch bhi hojai har waqt phadda or behso mubahisa….wahan log mar gai or yahan sarmad bhai ne apni politics shuru kardi….bajai iske ke do meethe bol boldete koi dua kardete lage pare hen larai horai he masha allah masha allah,ye musalman hen?me to poochta hn ye insan hen??”
– “Kya ap sure hain k hme dukh nai hoa aur hm ny dua nai ki?
Zrori to nai k sb ko dikha kr he har kam hota hy.
Uska mtlb hy, k death tb b hoti hain jb hm party ma hotay hain aur tb b jb club ma.
Wo jo rozana drone hamlo ma apnay ghar k andher he be gunah mary jaty hain, kbi wo nai suna?”
– “Khar, ap khud he dakh lena k 4 din bd apky dil ma is bt ka kitna afsos reh jay ga”
– “yes exactly, wahan loug mar gaye, wahan aik plane crash howa!
kabhi aap ne ya kisi aur ne apna status un logon ke liye update kia ya soug ka ilaan kia kisi baray ne pooray mulk mien keh aj satar(70) banday shaheed ho gaye hien, un ke liye soug ka ilan… kabhi aap mien se kisi ne kaha keh bomb blasts ke result mien jo loug shaheed hotay hein un ke liye aik din soug ka ilan?
aj chun ke woh loug jahaz mien safar kar rahe the, elite class ke loug the, is liye un ke liye soug ka ilan kar dia gya?
mien lar nahi raha… mien aap sab ko is baat ki tarah ishara de raha hoon keh hum loug jahazon walon ke liye tou soug ka ilan kar dete hein, par jo sarkoon par, namaz ki halat mien, terrorist attacks mien maray jatay hien, un ke liye soug ka ilan kyun nahi??
mien bahesiyat musalmaan aur aik pakistani… kehta hoon keh mujhe bhi dukh hay un logon ka jo aj shaheed hoye..
exactly, even hum bhi, jo abhi barh charh kar baat kar rahe hien, humien bhi 6 din baad bhoola ho ga keh koi hadsa howa tha, jis mien kai khandanon ke loug shaheed ho gaye the…”