The Tunisian pilot who flew the chartered ValueJet plane carrying the Nigerian Super Eagles football team to Libya, has claimed he was instructed by Libyan authority to divert the plane to a different location.
According to the pilot, the original flight plan was to land the aircraft in Benghazi, Libya, as approved by the aviation authorities. But later they were suddenly directed by officials to divert to another airport just as they neared their destination.
“The flight plan was to land in Benghazi. We got the approval from the Libyan civil aviation authority that we were approved to land,” the pilot explained.
“But unfortunately, when we started the descent, they asked us to divert to Mitiga, which is almost 150 miles (300 km) away. This was not even our alternate airport.”
The pilot said he warned the officials that the diversion would have severely impacted their fuel reserves, and could compromise the safety of the flight.
“I asked them several times, at least eight times, and I warned them that I would be in trouble for the fuel situation,” the pilot recounted. “They said it was from the highest authority and that we had to divert to Mitiga immediately.”
The pilot later complied with the directive. Thankfully, the aircraft landed safely in Mitiga with no challenges.
“Even the airport in Mitiga was not well-equipped. There was no ILS, no other approach aids, so we had to land visually,” the pilot said. “It was our first and last chance with this changing company, and I know the area very well, but it was not an easy matter at all.”
“This is our flight plan. We cannot hide anything. There is a lot of cross-checking and redundancy in aviation, so they cannot hide this information or say anything other than the truth,” the pilot stated.
This revelation comes hours after Super Eagles players reported that had been mistreated by Libyan authorities ahead of their Tuesday match, which they later boycotted and flew back home after being stranded at the airport for 20 hours.
In a series of tweets early Monday morning, Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong described the situation as “disgraceful,” accusing the hosts of playing “mind games.”
He revealed that the team was kept in an abandoned airport with no access to food, drink, or phone connections.
Nigeria defeated Libya 1-0 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Friday, October 11. Both nations were scheduled to play the return leg in Libya on October 15.
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