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Ahsan, his wife and daughter all expired in the
Gulf Air crash at Mina Jebel Ali, UAE on 23
September 1983. Ahsan and his family were going
back to Abu Dhabi after Hajj and Eidul Adha holidays in
Karachi. He used to work as a Chemical Engineer in
ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) at that
time.
The ill-fated flight was Gulf Air 771 and the aircraft
was a Boeing 737-2P6. There were 115 passengers
and 7 crew on board the flight. No one survived.
Most of the dead were Pakistanis going back to
work in Abu Dhabi. Official reports state that
there was an explosion in the forward cargo
compartment which destroyed the plane. Some claim
that it was a bomb - possibly planted by Abu Nidal
Organization - a militant Palestinian group to pay
protection money. However others believe that it was a heat sinking
missile fired by the UAE forces by mistake during
exercises in the desert. The flight was on approach
for landing at Abu Dhabi airport around noon time
when the incident took place.
After leaving Petaro in 1967, Ahsan completed his
Intermediate from Adamjee Science College in Karachi.
He then opted to become a Chemical Engineer, and got his
Bachelor's degree from Dawood College of Engineering.
His first job was with Exxon Chemicals at Daharki
(which is now known as Engro Chemicals) as a
Process Engineer. It was only months before the
ill-fated crash that he had taken a job with ADNOC
and moved to Abu Dhabi.
Ahsan and I were really great friends. He was my
batch mate at Petaro and we had so much in common.
His parents and my uncle/aunt were good friends
and we were related to each other - though
distantly. He studied Chemical Engineering like I
did, and he got married barely a month after I did
(also in Lahore). His first and only daughter was
born a month apart from my first born. And at the
time of the air crash, his was due to have another
baby, who would have been around the same age as
my second born.
Ahsan was the younger brother of another great Petarian,
Capt.PN(R) Ahmed Zaheer, kit no. 483/Liaquat.
It is an honour for
me to be the batch mate of Ahsan Muneer. I do miss him
very much, and whenever his thoughts come to my mind, it
truly bring tears to my eyes. May Allah grant him, his wife
and his infant daughter the best place in Jannatul Firdaus. |
