Air Marshal Zafar Ahmed Chaudhry who was Pakistan’s 8th Air Chief, has died at age 93. Pakistan Air Force’s current Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan expressed profound grief over his demise.

Chaudhry was commissioned in the Royal Indian Air Force on 9th April 1945 and served as pilot officer in the No. 7 Squadron of the RAF.

In 1971, Chaudhry was appointed as Managing Director of the Pakistan International Airlines where he remained until 1972. On 3 April 1972, he was appointed as Chief of Air Staff and took over the command of the Pakistan Air Force.

According to his colleagues Chaudhry was a master airman, with legendary flying skills and flew everything from Hawker Sea Furies to Mirages. He was also an author and wrote three books, “Mosaic of Memory”, “An Airman Remembers” and “Miracles do happen”.

Chaudhry was also among the founding members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. HRCP Chairperson Dr Mehdi Hasan in a statement on Wednesday announced a reference in his memory on December 30 in Lahore.

“A committed human rights activist, he was instrumental in supporting HRCP as an independent human rights organisation in the mid-1980s, when no such body existed,” Hasan said. “The Commission is indebted to him for helping establish its secretariat in Lahore. The entire HRCP family will feel his loss keenly, in particular the friends and comrades with whom he worked so closely,” it added.

His funeral prayers will be offered in Lahore Cantt on Thursday.