On Diwali night, Capt Khokhar had promised daughters an outing and dinner after he returned from test flight

It had been just a few months in the new job for Capt Manjit Khokhar, who joined the Punjab government as a pilot after flying planes in the US for 18 long years.

And the 42-year-old was not happy flying the King Air plane, according to his sister Narender Kaur. “He was not paid his salary for the last month. He also complained that the Punjab government’s plane was not in a good shape. He would say the condition of the plane was so bad that it would certainly crash one day.”

His prediction became a reality and the plane actually crashed near Ludhiana on Wednesday morning, claiming the life of Khokhar and another pilot.

He leaves behind his two minor daughters who live with their mother in Chandigarh — Khokhar and his wife were divorced. “He called me up last night and told me that I should concentrate on my studies and that he would take us for an outing and for dinner once he returns,” said a distraught Niharika, elder of Khokhar’s two daughters. She is a student of Ydavindra Public School, Mohali. Khokhar’s former wife, too, was in a state of shock.

Narender Kaur, with whom Khokhar lived in Sector 12-A here, said he had asked her to pack a packet of dry fruits for his friends. Before leaving for the flight in the morning, he also spoke to his father who always insisted that he should marry again, she added.

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