Air Zimbabwe plane aborts take-off
November 5, 2009
By Our Correspondent
HARARE – An Air Zimbabwe flight was forced to abort a take-off and make an emergence stop at Harare Airport yesterday after it hit a warthog which had strayed onto the runway, airline officials confirmed.
Chinese-built Xian MA60 in Air Zimbabwe livery
Bound for Zimbabwe’s second city of Bulawayo, the Chinese-made Xian MA60 aircraft was taking off from Harare’s International Airport when it hit the warthog, officials confirmed.
Transport minister Nicholas Goche later said there had been an aborted take off at Harare Airport after the incident. He, however, put the number of warthogs involved at five.
Air Zimbabwe has three MA60s, two of them imported from China in May 2007, while the third was later donated by the Chinese government.
All the planes service domestic routes.
“Unfortunately our plane, which was going to Bulawayo, hit a warthog on the runway and was forced to make an emergency brake stop,” Peter Chikumba, the chief executive of Air Zimbabwe, told news agency SAPA.
The Zimbabwe Times understands the emergency landing caused massive panic at the airport. All passengers and cabin crew escaped unscathed. The passengers and crew were all evacuated safely.
The stricken plane was not damaged but it took several hours to be removed from the runway
“The plane had 34 passengers,” Chikumba said, “fortunately they are all safe and no one was injured,” .
One passenger, said: “Everyone was absolutely terrified but the pilot without a doubt saved our lives.”
The Minister of Transport said Air Zimbabwe and the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe had instituted an investigation into the accident.
“The aircraft was about to take off when it hit five wild pigs,” Goche said. “Government would like to assure the travelling public about Air Zimbabwe’s commitment to maintaining its flawless safety record.”
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Perhaps Iodza’s white girlfriend should visit the USA where there are white pilots who can land on water (remember the landing on the Hudson River). Iodza’s mentality is puerile, to say the least. That also goes for the so-called white girlfriend. Both need not visit beautiful Zimbabwe.
Whats this blah blah blah nonsense. Most of you present as ignorant about accidents involving airlines, and mostly in the industrialsied countries.
We must be thankful that no one was hurt in the incident. Air Zimbabwe passengers can be anybody ZANU PF or MDC or the unimpressed.
There is obvious a slack in the fence around the airport. Its in human nature to fail occasionally.
After the accident that led to the scrapping the Concord involved pieces of metal in the runway which punctures the wheel of the tragic aircraft. The pieces of metal could have been easily picked by airports grounds staff.
As for warthogs….just imagine how they got there. Humans are not in control over other species all the time.
Lodza…On a more serious note, your “white girlfriend must be one of the dumb ones mate“ and you must be somebody who hooks on to somebody commonly referred to as “ZIMUTEVERE“. Hitting a warthog and causing an emergerncy stop is far better than what we have read so many times happening at Heathrow airport.
It sounds like there is less security here in the UK in as far as aeroplanes are concerned than in Zimbabwe if you are sharp at simple mathematics, which I doubt very much you would have an idea of, both with your so-called girl friend.
If you advanced to grade7, please teach your gir friend you want to hook onto simple arithmetic so she will realise the truth that she would be safer flying in Zimbabwe than here in the UK. Good luck in teaching your girl friend.
People in government should be constantly reminded that they are like these wild warthogs that stall progress.And that they feed on human waste.
On a more serious note, my white girlfirend is pissed off after reading this story.We were supposed to visit Zimbabwe next month and she is now heavily concerned about her safety during our stay.
She said ‘You guys can’t even fly a plane’. This is ridiculous!!
Air Zim and your staff please put your house in order cause this silly, stupid incident is now leading to a break up.
Do we need to know that she is white? Wouldn’t ‘my girlfriend’ suffice? Zimbabweans, we have some serious issues.
Iodza who cares whether your girlfriend is white or pink, so what. Shame on you for denying your blackness, perhaps when you see white you think you are seeing Heaven.
Pity the warthog was not named Robert….