Rough landing for mercy flight
2005-02-01 09:44
Johannesburg - An aircraft on a South African mercy flight to tsunami victims in Somalia landed in that country on Tuesday morning after being delayed in Uganda.
Fred Rutter, owner of Aero Trade whose Antonov plane was used, told Sapa the aircraft landed about 08:30.
"It was a critical landing because the airstrip is gravel and only 1.7km long. You need a pilot with balls like an ox to make this kind of landing," he said.
The aircraft, packed with aid and medical personnel, was greeted by a happy crowd which included government officials, Rutter said.
The aid includes water purification tablets, medicine, protein energy powder, blankets, ground sheets and tents.
It will be loaded onto trucks and taken about 200km to Hafun, a fishing village on the northeastern coastline of Somalia. The United Nations Children's Fund estimates that 12 000 women and children in the area need help.
The December 26 tsunami destroyed at least half of the homes in the village and people were left without clean water, sanitation and food.
Rutter said the team hoped to make a second mercy flight later this week.
The Gift of the Givers flight was delayed in Uganda on Monday after a refusal for the aircraft to fly over Ethiopia. It is understood that Ethiopia requires clearance from the United Nations for all aid flights.
However, the problem was solved after negotiations between the South African embassy in Addis Ababa, via the ambassador at the African Union summit in Abuja, Nigeria, and Ethiopian officials also at the meeting.
The aircraft, delayed for about 24 hours, took off from Uganda early on Tuesday.
- SAPA