Wondering About the Vice Presidents Flight
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Wondering About the Vice Presidents Flight
News 24 reports that the Vice presidents fight from Tripoli to Bangui put down in Gbadolite in the DRC at night on an unlit runway due to bad weather in Bangui with 35 minutes of fuel remaining. What I'm wondering is what was the listed alternate? What type aircraft? Was this a legal flight? Bangui is a long way from anywhere suitable.
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this one.....
Motlanthe plane nearly runs out of fuel
2009-09-01 13:00
Kinshasa - A plane carrying Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe back from a summit in Libya made an emergency landing on an unlit runway in northern Democratic Republic of Congo after missing a fuel stop.
"They had just 35 minutes of fuel remaining, so they couldn't go any further," Democratic Republic of Congo Transport Minister Matthieu Pita told Reuters on Tuesday.
"The pilot took the risk, and, thank God, everything went well. There were no injuries and no damage," Pita said of the overnight landing in the town of Gbadolite.
Refuelling
Bad weather had prevented the plane from making a scheduled refuelling stopover in Central African Republic as it brought Motlanthe back from an African Union summit in Tripoli, Libya.
Pita said a jet was being dispatched to the airport to pick up the delegation.
Once used to shuttle the DRC's former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko to his palatial jungle retreat, the airport in Gbadolite has since fallen into ruins. Pita said fuel will be transported to the airstrip to extract the plane.
- Reuters
2009-09-01 13:00
Kinshasa - A plane carrying Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe back from a summit in Libya made an emergency landing on an unlit runway in northern Democratic Republic of Congo after missing a fuel stop.
"They had just 35 minutes of fuel remaining, so they couldn't go any further," Democratic Republic of Congo Transport Minister Matthieu Pita told Reuters on Tuesday.
"The pilot took the risk, and, thank God, everything went well. There were no injuries and no damage," Pita said of the overnight landing in the town of Gbadolite.
Refuelling
Bad weather had prevented the plane from making a scheduled refuelling stopover in Central African Republic as it brought Motlanthe back from an African Union summit in Tripoli, Libya.
Pita said a jet was being dispatched to the airport to pick up the delegation.
Once used to shuttle the DRC's former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko to his palatial jungle retreat, the airport in Gbadolite has since fallen into ruins. Pita said fuel will be transported to the airstrip to extract the plane.
- Reuters
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Which country is he VP of? Where was he going to?
The quoted article does not identify which country this character is the VP of. Also, it does not state where he was being carried back to. All we can infer from the article is that the plane left Tripoli, Libya and made an unplanned landing in the northern DRC at some place that was not its intended destination. What useless reporting by Reuters!
The quoted article does not identify which country this character is the VP of. Also, it does not state where he was being carried back to. All we can infer from the article is that the plane left Tripoli, Libya and made an unplanned landing in the northern DRC at some place that was not its intended destination. What useless reporting by Reuters!
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Gbadolite...
Ha Ha Ha ..Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha... HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...
Could someone come up with new 'Smiley' for this one... nothing here quite fits...
Maybe Mobutu is alive and well and working at Jepperson ?
According to international guidelines regarding airports, this particular airport did indeed have the required lights, fuel and a control tower manned 24 hours per day.
Could someone come up with new 'Smiley' for this one... nothing here quite fits...
Maybe Mobutu is alive and well and working at Jepperson ?
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The plane carrying Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe that made an emergency night landing in the Democratic Republic of Congo last
week, had to circle and use its own lights to find the runway,government spokesman Themba Maseko said on Thursday.
"The pilot realised the [runway] lights were not on," he told a media briefing at Parliament, following Cabinet's fortnightly
meeting on Wednesday. The incident happened while Motlanthe was returning home from
the African Union summit in Libya. "The plane was diverted to the DRC to land at a small airport.
On arrival at the airport, the pilot realised the [runway] lights were not on. So he had to circle around looking for the runway
using the lights of his aircraft until the runway was found. "He made an emergency landing... that caused a tyre to burst...
but the deputy president did land very safely. "The plane was then approached by both the military of the UN
force... and also the DRC armed forces," Maseko said. Asked if the troops had tried to enter the aircraft, he replied:
"No, nobody boarded the plane... The members of the [military]force just came to the plane to understand what was happening and
to check if it was safe. "As soon as it was established it was [Motlanthe], the plane was
allowed to refuel and proceed with the trip." He said Cabinet had been briefed on the incident by Defence
Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who would issue a statement later on "what really happened".
Responding to another question, he said the SA Air Force had noso-called long-haul planes.
"The airforce has planes, but no long-haul planes. So whenever the deputy president or ministers travel, they have to stop at a
country on the continent for refuelling. It is normal practice,"Maseko said.
The Democratic Alliance on Thursday called for a board of inquiry into the incident.
DA defence spokesman James Lorimer alleged in a statement that material facts had been omitted from the official report of the
incident.
"Material facts were omitted from the official report of the incident, which concealed its seriousness. Due to the potential
risk to the deputy president... there should be a full and open investigation.
"Right now it looks as if facts are being hidden, perhaps to save the blushes of officials," he said.
week, had to circle and use its own lights to find the runway,government spokesman Themba Maseko said on Thursday.
"The pilot realised the [runway] lights were not on," he told a media briefing at Parliament, following Cabinet's fortnightly
meeting on Wednesday. The incident happened while Motlanthe was returning home from
the African Union summit in Libya. "The plane was diverted to the DRC to land at a small airport.
On arrival at the airport, the pilot realised the [runway] lights were not on. So he had to circle around looking for the runway
using the lights of his aircraft until the runway was found. "He made an emergency landing... that caused a tyre to burst...
but the deputy president did land very safely. "The plane was then approached by both the military of the UN
force... and also the DRC armed forces," Maseko said. Asked if the troops had tried to enter the aircraft, he replied:
"No, nobody boarded the plane... The members of the [military]force just came to the plane to understand what was happening and
to check if it was safe. "As soon as it was established it was [Motlanthe], the plane was
allowed to refuel and proceed with the trip." He said Cabinet had been briefed on the incident by Defence
Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who would issue a statement later on "what really happened".
Responding to another question, he said the SA Air Force had noso-called long-haul planes.
"The airforce has planes, but no long-haul planes. So whenever the deputy president or ministers travel, they have to stop at a
country on the continent for refuelling. It is normal practice,"Maseko said.
The Democratic Alliance on Thursday called for a board of inquiry into the incident.
DA defence spokesman James Lorimer alleged in a statement that material facts had been omitted from the official report of the
incident.
"Material facts were omitted from the official report of the incident, which concealed its seriousness. Due to the potential
risk to the deputy president... there should be a full and open investigation.
"Right now it looks as if facts are being hidden, perhaps to save the blushes of officials," he said.
