‘Between heaven and mortality’: Adnan Siddiqui recounts harrowing experience aboard Lahore-bound flight
Actor Adnan Siddiqui took to Instagram on Sunday to share a chilling account of a recent flight he took from Karachi to Lahore. Posting a video that captured the panic inside the aircraft as it experienced major turbulence, Siddiqui shared a detailed note expressing everything he felt in that moment.
The flight, en route from Karachi to Lahore, began uneventfully before suddenly being rocked by violent turbulence while landing at Allama Iqbal International Airport. In the video shared by Siddiqui, the cabin is seen shaking, while terrified passengers scream and cry, their fear filling the cramped space as the aircraft jolts mid-air.
“Yesterday, somewhere between the sky over Karachi and the sprawling fields of Lahore, I found myself caught between heaven and a very real sense of mortality,” Siddiqui wrote. “What began as an ordinary flight quickly turned into the kind of moment that strips away the noise, the routine, the illusion of control and leaves you staring straight into the eyes of your fragility.”
The actor described the terrifying seconds when chaos took hold. “Gasps, cries, people clutching one another, some openly panicking. It was definitely chaotic. But beneath it all was a quiet, shared realisation that we were all at the mercy of something far beyond us.”
In that harrowing moment, he said, his thoughts went straight to his family. “I tried to stay calm, holding on not just to the armrest but to my thoughts, my breath, and my faith. And in those trembling seconds when life felt unsure, only one thing filled my heart: my family. My children’s faces. And I felt a sharp ache of leaving this world without one last hug from them, without telling them how much I love them.”
Siddiqui recalled praying for himself, for every soul on that plane, “strangers, yet suddenly bound together by fear, hope, the sheer intensity of the moment.” He prayed for mercy, a safe landing, and another chance at life. “A chance to live more gratefully, more presently, and to never again take another breath for granted.”
Thankfully, the aircraft made a safe landing after what Siddiqui described as a “clean, sharp go-around” just as the plane was about to touch down. “Kudos to the captain,” he wrote. “What presence of mind!”
The actor concluded his note with the reflection, “It wasn’t just the end of a flight. It was Allah’s grace. It is a powerful reminder that life is painfully fragile, heartbreakingly brief, and profoundly sacred. It’s a gift. Please don’t waste it. Keep your people close. And thank Allah for this moment, life, and chance.”
During this, Siddiqui wrote a farewell note — something that might be read at his funeral or, he half-joked, “go viral.”
“While this was happening, people were screaming and crying; I stayed oddly calm. Collected. I was so quiet that I opened my phone and wrote a quick goodbye note just in case. I wrote it like it might be read at my funeral…..or maybe go viral. When we landed, I read it, made a face, and deleted it. Still, I meant every word.”
Fellow actors filled his comments section with messages of gratitude for his and everyone else’s safe landing. “Thank God for the safety of everyone on that flight and you my dearest Adooooo,” commented Nadia Jamil. “Thank God everyone is safe,” wrote Kinza Hashmi. Areeba Habib, Ali Kazmi, Naeema Butt and Mooro, among others, commented in a similar vein.
Flight FL-842 from Karachi to Lahore narrowly avoided a disaster when it was caught in severe turbulence while landing at Allama Iqbal International Airport. The pilot aborted landing and safely returned to Karachi following air traffic control instructions, Geo News reported.
Passengers, shaken by repeated jolts, refused to re-board after landing in Karachi. Airport sources said 57 passengers cancelled their travel plans, delaying the flight’s re-departure.
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