Photo: Supplied
The
Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe yesterday impounded a chartered
MD11 trijet cargo plane owned by Western Global Airlines stashed with
millions of South African rands and a dead body after it asked to land
in Harare during a flight from Germany to South Africa.During routine
refuelling airport staff noticed blood dripping from the plane, the dead
body found, and the alert given. Investigations were still in progress
last night.
Western Global
Airlines is based in southwest Florida in the United States of America.
The plane was flying from Germany to South Africa when the captain asked
for a technical landing at the Harare International Airport after an
initial request to land in Mozambique was turned down.
Civil Aviation
Authority of Zimbabwe general manager Mr David Chaota confirmed the
incident last night. "Yes, it is a Western Global Airlines plane and now
the case is being handled by our security " he said.
South African
Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Vusi Mavimbela confirmed the incident last
night but would not give details. "I spent the better of the day at the
airport," he said. "I am aware of what you are saying but I cannot
comment now because there are investigations that are still going on."
Sources close to
the matter told The Herald last night that the plane was destined for
South Africa. "The plane requested for a technical landing which was
granted by the airport authorities," said the source.
"Upon refueling,
the airport attendants discovered that there was blood dripping from the
plane. When they checked to try and ascertain where the blood was
coming from that is when they discovered a suspended dead body in the
plane.
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"The matter was
reported to the authorities at the airport and the plane was impounded
while the body was taken to pathologists." Unconfirmed reports say the
crew included two Americans, a Pakistani and a South African. The
whereabouts of the crew were unknown last night.
The nationality of
the dead person could not be established by the time of going to print,
nor any details of how he died. Western Global Airlines operates a fleet
of 16 MD11 freighters, a modern stretched upgrade of the old DC10,
according to its web site.
The private cargo
line is owned by James and Sunny Neff and advertises that it has a good
range of customers, including FedEx. It said aid agencies chartered it
to fly staff and supplies into West Africa last year to fight the Ebola
epidemic.
The last time
Zimbabwean civil aviation authorities impounded a foreign plane was in
2004, when the authorities arrested a planeload of 64 mercenaries who
wanted to take part in a coup in Equatorial Guinea. Efforts to get a
comment from the police were fruitless as police spokesperson Senior
Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba's mobile phone went unanswered.
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