Incident Overview

Date: Monday 11 October 1999
Aircraft Type: ATR 42-320
Owner/operator: Air Botswana
Registration Number: A2-ABB
Location: Gaborone-Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) – ÿ Botswana
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Component Affected: ATR-42 aircraftATR-42 aircraft
Category: Unlawful Interference
An Air Botswana captain boarded an ATR-42 aircraft in the early morning, intending to speak with several individuals, including the president, general manager, station commander, central police, and his girlfriend. Due to the president’s absence, arrangements were made for him to speak with the vice president. Attempts to persuade the pilot to land and discuss his concerns were unsuccessful, leading to a crash into other aircraft on the apron. The pilot, who had been grounded on medical reasons and refused reinstatement, flew two loops and then screamed at 200 knots, causing damage to Air Botswana’s two remaining ATR-42s.An Air Botswana captain boarded an ATR-42 aircraft in the early morning, intending to speak with several individuals, including the president, general manager, station commander, central police, and his girlfriend. Due to the president’s absence, arrangements were made for him to speak with the vice president. Attempts to persuade the pilot to land and discuss his concerns were unsuccessful, leading to a crash into other aircraft on the apron. The pilot, who had been grounded on medical reasons and refused reinstatement, flew two loops and then screamed at 200 knots, causing damage to Air Botswana’s two remaining ATR-42s.

Description

An Air Botswana captain boarded a parked ATR-42 aircraft in the early morning and took off. The captain reported to the controller that he wanted to speak to the president, Air Botswana’s general manager, the station commander, central police station and his girlfriend, among others. Because the president was out of the country, arrangements were being made for him to speak to the vice president. Attempts were made to persuade him to land and discuss his concerns with the relevant authorities, but he finally stated he was going to crash into some planes on the apron. After flying for about 2 hours he did two loops and then screamed at 200 knots into Air Botswana’s two other ATR-42s parked on the apron. Airline sources say the pilot had been grounded on medical reasons, refused reinstatement and regrounded until February 2000. Air Botswana operations were crippled, as the airline only had one plane left – a BAe-146 which was grounded with technical problems.

Primary Cause

Medical ReasonsMedical Reasons

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