One of the two survivors of the crash of the Pakistan International Airlines plane in Karachi in 2020, Zafar Masud, who is a banker, shared his memories of the crash which also culminated in writing of his book.

His book Seat 1C: A Survivor’s Tale of Hope, Resilience of Renewal was written in collaboration with Syeda Amna Hasan, which was launched at the Lahore Literary Festival on Saturday.

Mahsud stated that people thought his survival was linked to his seat location on the plane during the crash, but he disagreed, believing it was “God’s will for him to survive.”

He also noted that the publisher believed the seat number would boost sales, which is why they titled it ‘Seat 1C’.

“I wanted to share my post-crash learnings – to tell people what it feels like when you come so close to death, how your life changes, and what your life priorities should be,” he said.

“I just hope and pray that nobody goes through the experiences that I went through but since I had gone through it I owed it to the people to share those with them in whatever way that would help them improve their life.”

Masud added that in late 2021, he was invited to write an article for a newspaper about his experiences after the crash. He felt his reflections were unique and important to share.

“I have tried to avoid drama and made an attempt to make it more matter-of-fact but the fact is that the whole crash was so emotional and so sad that there are certain parts of it which could trigger some emotions in the victims’ families for which I apologise [to them].”

He emphasised that Hasan should be recognised for her role in the book, as he wanted the account to be literary and relatable to readers.

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He noted that the book required research and aimed to be engaging, and he credited Amna for achieving that. He mentioned that the language used in the book was her contribution.

Hassan explained that they began the project by discussing Zafar’s memories of the crash. She helped fill in gaps, like what happened after he lost consciousness during the crash. She talked to Zubair, the other survivor, whose vivid memories were crucial. Additionally, she gathered accounts from eyewitnesses, residents of Model Colony, and paramedics, which brought the story to life.

She mentioned that writing about the rescue scenes was challenging because of the chaos and the complex relationship between those memories and trauma.