6 days ago
8 The pilot of the chartered aircraft in which the Super Eagles flew to Libya has thrown more light on how the Libyan authorities diverted the plane that was supposed to land in Benghazi to another airport at Al-Abraq.
The Tunisian pilot made this known in a video interview posted on X by Sports Journalist Pooja Media on Tuesday, where he talked about the potential risks of the diversion.
He noted that all efforts to convince the authorities on the risks of diverting the plane fell on deaf ears.
“The flight plan was to land at Benghazi, Benina, and we had the approval from the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority to do so,” the pilot said.
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“However, when we began our descent, they instructed us to divert to Al-Abraq, which is almost 150 miles away, around 300 kilometres east. It wasn’t even (listed as) our alternate airport, something which is not good,” he added
“In aviation, we have our flight plan, we calculate the fuel to our destination, so we have to avoid this kind of thing because it may make a breach to safety,” he stated, adding that he repeatedly questioned the directive.
“When I asked to land in Benghazi according to my flight 0plan and according to my authorisation, they said no, it’s from the highest authority, you have to land in Al-Abraq.”
Refuting claims from the media that the diversion was his decision, he said, “Everything is registered in aviation, we cannot hide anything, so I asked them several times, at least eight times, and I warned them, probably I will be in trouble for fuel; they said it’s from highest authority, you cannot land in Benghazi, you have to divert immediately to Al-Abraq,” he added.
The pilot noted that all relevant communications and authorisations are documented and could be provided as evidence if needed.
He said, “The truth was we were going to Benghazi, and I can show you the evidence of the approval, I have it. But at the last minute, they changed their mind and changed the airport.”.
“There is no ILS (Instrument Landing System), no air navigation approach, no VHR (VHF Omnidirectional Range). We had to make a visual landing, which is particularly difficult by night with marginal weather,” he said, adding that the airport’s lack of facilities left them with “no second chances” if the landing had gone wrong
“It was not an easy matter at all. When a pilot hears this, he will understand that it was not an easy thing to land under such conditions. Thank God we made it safely”.
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