Chief Executive said, as soon as Kabul’s situation deteriorated the captain contacted the management. When Taliban took over, Captain Bajrani of Airbus A320 was waiting for clearance from Air Traffic Control on Sunday. The crew member said to “take your own decision” to which the Captain took off for Islamabad, Flight PK6252.
As emergency was declared at the airport, thick black smoke could be seen from the hills surrounding the Airport, the flight was kept on hold. As told by a crew member, the captain made a surprise announcement of leaving for Islamabad, soon the plane started moving in high speed , it was due to captain following two fighter planes in front of the plane, he thought it was better to follow them.
The plane landed in Islamabad on Sunday at 7:10pm, the crew took a sigh of relief as the captain informed they had entered the territory of Pakistan.
As the plane landed and the doors opened, a staff member of PIA came and gave the captain a note from the CEO, which had praise on it for the captain, he praised the captain for bringing the flight home safely as the situation deteriorated in Kabul.
The CEO said “in crisis, real professionalism is seen through understanding, skills and experience.”
