Asghar Khan was one of the world’s youngest air force chiefs at 36

LAHORE: Appointed in July 1957 as one the world's youngest air force chiefs at the age of 36 only, Air Marshal Asghar Khan breathed his last on Friday, just 12 days short of his 97th birthday, making him the oldest top-ranking officer of Pakistani armed forces to leave for his eternal bode, research shows.

Despite all the fortunes and accolades that greeted him during his long and eventful life, Asghar Khan – who was also known as "Night Flyer" among colleagues – was devastated and shocked on a multiple number of occasions.

His son and a former federal minister for environment, local bodies and rural development Omar Asghar Khan had died in mysterious circumstances at the age of 48, just a week before his 49th birthday, in June 2002.

Survived by a widow and three children, the eminent economist and philosopher was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his in-laws' residence in Karachi. The events surrounding the death of Omar Asghar Khan, the son of Amina Shamsi and Asghar Khan, are still shrouded in mystery.

While the Asghar Khan family repeatedly insisted he was murdered, the authorities labelled his death a suicide. In 2007, his heir-apparent said they wanted no further probe into the gory incident.

Air Marshal Asghar Khan had lost two young brothers Asif Khan and Khalid Khan, both of whom had sacrificed their lives for Pakistan, research further shows.

While Pilot Officer Asif Khan was martyred as his aircraft had crashed with its nose down near Gilgit in February 1948, Squadron Leader Khalid Khan had laid his life in the line of duty in 1958. Khalid Khan's parachute did not open above the Jamrud Range, after he had reportedly ejected himself from an aircraft F-86 Sabre airplane because the engine had flamed out.

(Reference: Memoirs of Wing Commander SM Ahmed or "Lanky Ahmad," the course mate of late Pilot Officer Asif Khan. Wing Commander Ahmad had passed away on October 12, 2004 at Lahore)

It is imperative to note that on September 16, 2017, Asghar Khan's Indian counterpart, Air Marshal Arjan Singh, had died at the age of 98 in New Delhi after suffering a heart attack. The Lyallpur (now Faisalabad)-born Arjan Singh was not only first Pakistani air force chief Asghar Khan's Indian counterpart in the 1960s, but also his course-mate.

Arjan Singh was the only officer of the Indian Air Force to be given a distinction equal to that of a Field Marshal. The two gentlemen have thus died within three months of each other. In terms of longevity, many top-ranking international military and air force commanders have even outlived both Asghar Khan and Arjan Singh.

Here follows the list of world's 10 longest-living military and air force commanders, all of whom were lucky centenarians:

1. Brazilian Field Marshal, Waldemar Cardoso, had died at 108 in 2009.

2. Dorothy Stratton of US Army had died at the age of 107 in 2006.

3. Filipino General, Mariano Alvarez, had died in 1924 at the age of 106.

4. Lt-Gen William Jonas of US Army had lived for 105 years. He died in September 2017.

5. German General, Kurt Andersen, had departed in 2003 at the age of 104.

6. German Commander, Reinhard Hardegen, was 104 when he perished in 2003.

7. According to the "Times of Israel," Gen Yitzhak Pundak of Israeli Army had died in August 2017 at the age of 104.

8. Robert Fulton of American Navy had lived for 104 years before dying in 2015.

9. Fredrick Payne of American Marine Corps had died in 2015, aged 104.  

10. New Zealand Naval Commander, Connel Thode, had died at the age of 103 in 2014.