BoP CEO, Karachi plane crash survivor, to promote travel safety through foundation

LAHORE: Bank of Punjab (BoP) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Zafar Masood, one of the two survivors of the 2020 Karachi plane crash, has announced the launch of a foundation to promote flight awareness and passenger safety.

Speaking to journalist Sohail Warraich, Masood said the foundation will inform the people about travel rights "from [the] road to all the way to air which is considered to the safest mode of travelling."

"My desire, and aim, for the foundation is [...] for it to be able to stand on its feet in my life," he said. "I want it to have enough resources [...] to run on endowment [fund, without my assistance]."

Masood was aboard PK-8303, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) jet with 99 people, that crashed into a crowded residential district of Karachi in May, killing all but two.

He suffered fractures but was conscious and responded well, the bank had said at the time.

The other survivor, Muhammad Zubair, told a private news channel the pilot came down for one landing, briefly touched down, then took off again.

After around 10 more minutes of flying, the pilot announced to passengers he was going to make a second attempt, then crashed as he approached the runway, he had recalled.

In September, Masood travelled from Karachi to Lahore through a PIA plane again and, on his request, was allotted the same seat that he had been travelling in on the day of the crash.