Wings of Duty — Page 43

43 the same in an effort to tell him that we had been shot at. However, he was unable to understand my signals. I immediately changed our direction and flew towards Pasrur rather than Lahore. Worried that the lower part of the engine might have been hit and that it might fail at any minute, I felt that the best thing to do was to enter Pakistani air space so that if a crash landing was required, it could be undertaken in Pakistani territory and the closest point to the border was near Pasrur just by the Ravi River. I breathed a sigh of relief when we reached the Ravi and then I flew along its western bank until we arrived at Walton Airport in Lahore and landed safely. After we had touched down, I explained to my companion that we had been shot at and showed him the hole in the cockpit roof and the burnt hair on my head. He fainted in shock and fell on the tarmac before coming around a few minutes later. He had accompanied me with great enthusiasm on what for him was a ‘sightseeing’ tour of Qadian. Prior to the trip, he had spent days asking me to take him on an air survey. But after this, he swore off from ever flying with me again. A second miracle happened a few days later in early September. Huzoor needed to send an important