Harare flight

[snarfel]

A relative of mine in Harare, interested in air cargo transportation, saw a B747 without titles landing in Harare last Saturday, April 26.
Can somebody give more details, which company, etc.?

[imustbemad]

Probably too early for it but wouldn't be surprised if Satan's sidekick Bob managed to get his container, denied access at Durban harbour, flown in!

[Coleman Myers]

Probably find it was a stand in for MARTINNAIR - what was the reg ?.

[snarfel]

Reg not noticed. If known, the answer would have been found.

[chiremba]

News reports suggest MK has flown the arms in from Angola. Anyone got any info?

[cavortingcheetah]

:hmm:

Without in any way wishing to stir the pot, is that an implication that Air Mauritius flew the arms in from Angola?
If so, were the flight crew South African nationals and in any event, were it really Air Mauritius whose aircraft was used, is there not an arms embargo in place and should Air Mauritius now not be banned or blacklisted by those countries supporting the embargo?

Just an idle thought, but MK is Air Mauritius ain't it?:confused:

[merlinxx]

MK is Mike Kruger now fully UK operation. If it was MK then our CAA will have words with the folks near Ashdown Forrest.

[AAL]

Snarfel, if your relative can provide an ETA or ETD or time observed on ground, it may be possible we can identify the airline, reg and onward flightplan.

It is unusual for any one 747 to stop HRE as there is very little air cargo in and out anymore.

MK sometimes come down to LAD and position empty to EBB, would have been out of the ordinary for them to have stopped in HRE though rumours going around that they did over past few days.

Does MK presently have a 747 without markings - surely somebody should know. Perhaps your relative can better describe.

[Ingwe]

talk of MK doing such flights are rediculous and completely unfounded... MK hasn't been seen on Zim soil in years. According to the zwnews website the ship hasn't even docked in Luanda yet and is sitting outside the port. Bringing in a companies name with no evidence (even if this is a rumour network) is very low...

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=18700

Article list's the Cape Times as the source

[cavortingcheetah]

:hmm:


That seems a reasonable enough point especially given the troubles that might arise for any freight carrier that had undertaken such a commission and perhaps for the aircrew involved as well.

Post touching lightly on the company has therefore been delicately excised pending further rumours of substance such as news reports? :)

[SortieIII]

Here is a news report pertaining to the arms. Substance? Who knows.....

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=338212&area=/insight/insight__africa/

[snarfel]

AAL, I didn't get other specifications than that a 747 without titles was seen seemingly landing at HRE, which for a 747 is indeed unusual to have a Zim stop, he said. He wasn't at that time in a position to go and verify at the airport.

[JTrain]

I recall seeing in Entebbe earlier this year a cargo DC-10 with a Zimbabwean registration. The name of whomever operated it doesn't stick in my head. Whom would have this aircraft belonged to? Would it be used to potentially fly in the arms once they dock.

[NZFlyingKiwi]

That would be Avient I imagine, they operate four DC-10s apparently.

[AAL]

Hi Snarfel, See G-MKHA is flying but not carrying any identifying markings. Perhaps you can point/direct your contact towards Airliners.net or Jetphotos and ask if that was the aircraft? :ooh:

[JTrain]

Who is behind Avient and their 4 DC-10s? Mugabe cronies?

[AAL]

They all carry Zimbabwean registrations. For a country and a madman such as Mugabe that hates the British so much it is unusual that he will give British foreigners registrations and airworthiness while taking the other's farms.

Can anybody shed more light if the Zimbabwe CAA are rated/approved to regulate DC-10's?

[Exup]

Very strange that the person starting this post places his location as Ostende, one of MK's main EU bases, are they just stirring sh#t. All that know Mk would realise that they would never do what they are being stated of doing here.

[cavortingcheetah]

:hmm:

Even stranger is the fact that the poster has decided to spell his nom de plume with a small s, thus: snarfel.
This word has been defined as.....

The act of blowing air thru the mouth while press against someone’s stomach, resulting in the classic bubbly fart noise.
(I gave her a snarfel when she least expected it and perchance where too)

Now had snarfel chosen to spell his name with a capital S, thus: Snarfel, an altogether different meaning would have raised its head....

To recieve fellatio during the act of running on a treadmill
Incentives to joining our gym include the following: A Six Week Free Trial, Exclusive Workout Tips From Your Own Trainer... AND... A Free Snarfel From A Staff Member of Your Choice!

So far then, no wiser on the mysterious 747 and whether the arms and ammunition have arrived Harare or who flew the cargo in, if it were flown in at all?
One thing does seem fairly reasonable as a point of conjecture and that is that it is probably true to say that whoever did fly the arms in, if they were flown in, and the crew that did the flying, would rather remain very much in the shadows of anonymity. Quite apart from any respective and responsible CAA actions, the press could have a field day with such infomration and the consequent public lamentations could be considerable.:{

[spice]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was Avient .... the indominatable Andrew Smith ex British army officer. See link below.

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=15368

He made his money through his relationship with Mugabe, it seems the relationship continues if it was Avient. I know that they recently added more aircraft to the fleet of MD's - not sure if it is a 747 though.

[zfwmac]

There is a thread in Freight Dogs that suggests that the shipment in question was probably moved by Avient on their IL76. Does this get MK off the hook? In support of MK I would suggest they are not that daft as to get involved with such blatant arms flights into Zim, however, given Avients track record and their bosses total disregard for the rule book, nothing would suprise me.

[Coleman Myers]

As Mike Kruger's family had their airline "expropriated" from them by Mr Mugabe in the early 1980's, I find unlikely MK would be carrying out such a task for the Zimbabwean government. I know they used to fly flowers out of Zimbabwe some years ago.

Mr Andrew Smith of Avient however, is no stranger to weapons or "other" flights for the Zimbabwe government and it is very likely that if these weapons do make it to Zimbabwe it will be by his hand and likely through the sea/air ports of Matadi or Point Noire.