Here is a true story from PIA Captain Maqsood Bijani about his flight as one the last civilian aircraft that left Kabul, Afghanistan.
We landed at Kabul Int'l Airport on Sunday, 15 August 2021. The airport status was good and Air Traffic Control (ATC), was functional.
The first PIA flight was in that time, followed by a B777 company. Ground time took 3 hours in Kabul, then it was back to Islamabad. The aircraft we used was an A320 registered AP-BLS.
ATC announced:
"Due to an emergency, we are evacuating our control tower and moving to a mobile ATC unit. We will call you back shortly."
I started to notice people running onto the airfield and invading it. I called PIA HQ Pakistan for an update.
I was notified by them that ATC was being moved, and they also informed me that civil operations had been halted and that troop evacuation operations were underway.
"You will get pushback within 15 minutes. Our management team keeps in touch with different agencies.
The ATC was reactivated, and cleared departures of a PIA B777 (Doha), a Qatar B777 (Doha) and an Air India A320.
The ATC informed us that civil aircraft operations were being temporarily suspended until our turn.
We reached out to the company department responsible for all diplomatic channels. I spoke with the diplomats onboard and they were also not certain of the situation.
ATC could not tell us anything, and neither could anyone else.
I asked ATC for pushback. Then, we started-up and waited until clearance to depart was granted. We were granted approval, and we taxied out to the runway. However, take-off was denied. Civil operations remained suspended.
Then, with the volatile situation in my mind, I talked to my first officer about whether we needed to depart the aircraft without clearance. This was in keeping with my responsibilities towards my company, my passengers and my country.
My mind was racing with the thought that we might be captured or held in Afghanistan and used as hostages. I was also concerned for my crew and passengers.
My first officer was also supportive and we agreed to leave. We couldn't stay where we were.
After waiting an hour for clearance, Kabul ATC announced that they were closing down the airport and that it was now uncontrolled.
I was able to see many military aircraft leaving, so I decided to take off. I had to avoid troop carriers and military traffic helicopters on the departure, but the visibility was good. It would have been difficult to do that if it was cloudy.
Flight PK6252 left Kabul.
We climbed to 15,000ft and contacted Doha Air Traffic Control, who finally gave traffic separation radar control. This was how we were able return to Pakistan.
If we had waited a bit longer, I believe the aircraft would have been swallowed by a mob, and we wouldn't have been allowed to travel anywhere.
Route map for Flight PK6252 Kabul to Islamabad
Only military traffic and unauthorized people were all I could see. For their safety, gunships were launching flares. It was extremely unpredictable, and I had to maintain calm for my passengers. This is why my cabin crew as well as security personnel onboard deserve praise.
This is a true story from PIA Captain Maqsood Bijani. It details his flight as one the last civilian aircraft that left Kabul (Turkish Airlines Flight TK707).
