![]() ![]() It was not until army generals loyal to Gen Musharraf made a last-ditch effort to secure Karachi airport that Mr Hussein was given permission to land, with about seven minutes of fuel remaining. "I reached the conclusion that it was because of the presence of the chief of army staff on board." "That created a very alarming situation because Nawabshah was available for other flights, but not to us," Mr Hussein said. But as the aircraft descended to land there, the pilot was told that it, too, was off limits. The plane had enough fuel to reach the airport in Nawabshah, also in southern Pakistan. "It was quite an unusual question," Mr Hussein said.Įven more unsettling, he was asked if he could find another airport to land. The flight from Sri Lanka was proceeding without incident until Mr Hussein made his first radio contact with the air traffic control tower in Karachi, and was immediately asked about the plane's remaining fuel supply. "It was a very tense situation, to say the least." "I felt helpless," Mr Hussein told the court. The pilot was forced into a desperate search for a safe place to touch down as his fuel supply rapidly dwindled. Unknown to Mr Hussein, the prime minister had sacked the army chief at about the time the plane was taking off from Colombo, Sri Lanka. "I have 198 souls on board, a limited amount of fuel and if I'm not allowed to land - that will be the end of the story," Mr Hussein said he told the control tower. The pilot, Captain Syed Sarwat Hussein, said he was alarmed after being told by Karachi air traffic control that he could not land at the airport in the southern port city.
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