Copied from African Pilot Magazine(
www.africanpilot.co.za)
Warning on flights into Zambia
Received from Ted Huddlestone.
I am not sure whether your publication will reach all the affected aviators, but I believe if my message can reach the ears of even one aviator “potentially at risk” I will have achieved something to prevent a repeat of my recent experience.
The message is that Civil Aviation is under the control of the Zambian Air Force in that country and the warning is to make sure that pilots, even those on private flights as I was, have permits to enter the country. But pilots also require permits to fly to any other destination within the country. I won’t go too deeply into the grilling that I received that eventful Friday morning 27th June at Lusaka, save to say that I was given the “third degree” for failing to comply with this latter requirement. Threats of impounding the aircraft, imprisonment and heavy fines were hinted at, followed by a five-hour delay at the airport. My assertion that the briefing officer who accepted my flight plan to/from the private strip on the banks of the Zambezi River and should have requested details of my permit if it was such an important matter, fell on deaf ears. The Air Force Captain that apprehended me after my return from the airstrip, who was quite happy to receive R200 in cash in order for me to proceed with my journey, was the most unpleasant character in the whole charade. The Colonel at Air Force Headquarters in the City, who was “not available” for the first four and half hours of my detention, is the Zambian Director of Civil Aviation. He permitted me to leave in the end, provided I was “very nice” to his men, after earlier accusing me of a deliberate violation of their airspace, and imposing an ad hoc $250.00 fine. I was so relieved at the prospect of leaving their charming country that I gave their “civil” head of the Permits Department R100 as well. This he accepted with a huge smile on his face, as well as my packet of chips and toasted sandwich, (in which I had long before lost interest and deliberately kept on my person until they were icy cold; but he chomped them anyway!!!) Seriously, this was a most unpleasant experience and it will take me some time to recover from that event. Fortunately I was alone, as I had left my colleagues at the camp. It was a most pleasant five and a half hour flight in the PC12 direct from Lusaka to Cape Town at Level 260.Somehow I think the aircraft felt my pure exhilaration at speeding all the way home with two hours fuel to spare at Charlie Tango!!!
By the way, did you know that the R145 (south-east of Upington), despite a published restriction of FL195, is sometimes closed to traffic over weekends at up to 80 thousand feet? If you don’t believe me, ask Cape Town ATC.
One can only be warned
