Ethiopian Airlines flight leaves Mozambican minister and delegation grounded

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Ethiopian Airlines flight leaves Mozambican minister and delegation grounded

1:56 CAT | 14 Feb 2019

An unprecedented event occurred on Tuesday morning in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, when an Ethiopian Airlines flight took off leaving an 11-man Mozambican delegation, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Pacheco, on the ground, Notícias reports.

It is very difficult to understand how an incident of such magnitude could have been committed by an airline classified for several years now as the best in Africa and ranked among the 40 best in the world by UK’s Skytrax, whose main activity is the analysis of the aviation market, reads the report.

Not even the intervention of the Mozambique ambassador and permanent representative in the African Union (AU), Albertina MacDonald, was able to remedy the situation.

Asked about the matter, airline representatives were effusive in their regrets, saying “Sorry, sorry, sorry. We acknowledge that it was our fault”, Notícias reports.

Also strange, adds the same source, is the fact that the airline did not realise the absence of a minister and a deputy minister after check-in confirmation. Under normal conditions this should have triggered a warning mechanism.

Also inexplicable it that the plane departed with the luggage of the passengers who remained on ground, even after check-in, reads Notícias, stressing that this constitutes a serious breach of security, which in such cases recommends that the baggage of passengers who, for whatever reason, are unable to board, is removed from the aircraft.

The minister, who was returning to Mozambique after attending the recently concluded Summit of Heads of State and Government, was accompanied by a deputy minister and senior government officials.

Protocol officials arrived at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa at about 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday to assist in the handling of the Mozambican delegation’s travel arrangements.

As protocol demands, the Mozambican delegation accompanying the minister was taken to the VIP lounge of the airport and, a few minutes before scheduled take-off, airport services provided vehicles to take them to the plane.

What is known is that the vehicles carrying the Mozambican delegation were intercepted en route to the plane by another car from airport services, questioning the destination of the entourage.

After a brief exchange of words, it is perceived that the Ethiopian Airlines plane had already departed. This happened at around 9:00 a.m., the flight actually scheduled to depart at 08:50 a.m..

Contacting the company revealed that the driver of the car had been instructed to return to the VIP room in order to take passengers who had stayed on ground.

However, ordering the Ethiopian company’s aircraft to return did not seem feasible, because in addition to the various inconveniences this would pose, it would also force the pilot to discharge a considerable amount of fuel in order to land safely.

An AIM report says the pilot refused to obey an order to return, claiming that the plane was full and did not have room to accommodate more passengers.

The airline offered to look for alternative routes to get the Mozambican delegation home the same day (Tuesday), but this proved impossible, and the Mozambican delegation had to stay in Addis Ababa another night

The Notícias report points out that several questions remain unanswered. How was it possible for the pilot to say that the plane was full, given that there were 11 Mozambican passengers who had already checked in but not boarded? Who occupied the seats reserved for the Mozambican delegation? How was it possible not to detect the lack of passengers in the on-board head count?

Source: Notícias