Capt. Abdullah Baig and Capt. Taimur Baig: PIA pilots who flew airline’s brand new Boeing 720-040B (registration AP-AMG) on its record breaking delivery flight from London to Karachi on January 2, 1962. The flight was captained by Capt. Abdullah Baig. With representatives of FAI (Federation Aeronautique International) on board to monitor the official timings, AP-AMG completed the flight in 6 hours 43 minutes and 55 seconds, the record which to this day remains unbroken!! This achievement symbolized the fledgling Pakistani airline’s fighting spirit and urges.
Above photo was taken soon after the arrival of record breaking flight at Karachi Airport from London. In the photo you can see PIA’s ace pilot Captain Abdullah Baig (left) and his co-pilot Captain Taimur Baig (right). In those days PIA’s policy was to have 2 fully rated captains as pilot and co-pilot on jet flights.
Boeing 720-040B flown by another crew to London from where Captain Abdullah Baig took command and broke the existing world speed record. On the left side of this photo you can see Aizaz Moin’s father Captain Moinuddin Quraishi. Incidentally Capt. Taimur Baig was also Capt. Moinuddin Quraishi’s co-pilot when he suffered a heart attack at Tehran in 1961. Capt. Taimur took command and flew the Boeing 707-321 (registration N723PA) to Karachi. This Boeing 707 (registration N723PA) was on lease from Pan Am and it had made PIA the first Asian airline to fly jetliner. Capt. Moinuddin Quraishi was one of the very first Pakistani pilots to fly jetliners.
Air Hostess Momi Gul Durrani: In this photo PIA’s famous Air Hostess Momi Gul Durrani is seen in airline’s 1950s cabin crew uniform. Momi was one of PIA’s highly trained, professional and hard working cabin crew members of 1950s and 1960s. She was tall, fair with film-star looks. PIA had featured Momi in its many advertisements and it is said that when she smiled, she made others smile. In short period of time she gained immense popularity and achieved status of a bright star and a legend in PIA’s glorious history. Momi was on duty aboard PIA Boeing 720B jetliner which crashed near Cairo Airport on May 20, 1965. Sadly, 114 people, including Momi, died in this tragic accident.
Capt. Moinuddin Quraishi: This rare photo from January 1957 shows Capt. Moinuddin Quraishi (right) talking to Syrian President Shukri al-Kuwatly on the flight deck of a PIA Lockheed L-1049C Super Constellation. The VIP flight carrying Syrian President and his delegation was flown by this PIA Super Constellation under the command of Capt. Moinuddin Quraishi. Capt. Moinuddin was amongst the senior Captains of PIA who had the privilege of flying as the VIP pilot for a number of visiting dignitaries from overseas who were visiting the fledgling nation of Pakistan. VIP personalities flown by PIA airliners under the command of Capt. Moinuddin also include Celar Bayar, President of Turkey, and Chou En-lai, Prime Minister of China
The First Lady of USA, Jacqueline Kennedy, arrives in London on Pakistan International Airlines’ B720, AP-AMG , PIA’s first B720 delivered brand new on 12 dec 1961. Jackie loved flying on PIA.
This blog aims at telling you the "truth" about Pakistan. Unfortunately, today the news emerging from Pakistan on the Western media are so much polarized that it gives a very unreal image of Pakistan.
At "What no one told you about Pakistan", we aim at telling you the real stories about Pakistan.
