SWAT Peace Mission

It was 6 january 2010. We were informed that there is a invitation for PG pilots of Chitral to participate in peace mission in Swat. We decided, after a meeting, to go to Swat and fly there. We reached lower Chitral on January 9th and we practiced ground handling. In the morning of 10th January at 9am we departed from chitral. We reached Chikdara by the afternoon and there we were received by Pak army’s men ( Jawan). By 10pm the night we reached Khowzakhela, Swat. It was darkness of the night we didn’t see any thing there. It was blackout there due to no electricity. We spent a night in army station. Early the next day we were awakened by the din of solder’s movement.

“It is safe and peace all around here; you can fly any where here. Our Jawan are alert on every peek of the mountains” said the brigadier, a tall handsome bearing a graceful personality.

We started our practice flight near the slope, about five hundred feets high. The event was delayed day by day. During this interval we did practice from many spots.

Eventually we were ready to take off from Binaibaba, 8742 feet high, the strong hold of Muslim Khan; leader of Taliban before the Pak army had took over.

The event was scheduled to 18th of Janury 2010. It was a very special day. The passing out parade of the special police force was in schedule. High official guests including the social and political leaders of the area were seated.

We trekked to a height of 9000 feet, where we found a spot to take off. It was short after the horrible war; this area was still in critical situation. The horrible scene was an insight to the terrorists’ deeds.

We flew from the height and after duration of 34 minutes we landed the ground. Infect it was a hard time but we proved that SWAT is now as peaceful as other places which have yet not been hit by terrorism.