Vintage Air Rally pilots detained after entering Ethiopia
NAN-F-10
Investigation
Addis Ababa, Nov. 24, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Pilots of 20 light aircraft who entered Ethiopia as part of an air rally are under investigation in the western town of Gambela, an official said on Thursday.
Wossenyeleh Hunegnaw, head of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, denied that the pilots were under arrest.
However, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa said that several of its nationals taking part in the rally had been detained.
The Vintage Air Rally has described on its official website as an attempt to recreate “the African aviation of the 1920s”.
Using vintage aircraft, participants fly from Crete in Greece to Cape Town in South Africa, passing through 10 countries on the way.
“This group entered Ethiopia without getting permission to access our airspace,” Hunegnaw said.
“Besides, according to Ethiopian aviation law, non-scheduled flights into the country should first touch the Addis Ababa International Airport before departing to other parts of the country.
“But these pilots arrived at the Gambela Airport,” he added.
Vintage Air Rally said on Facebook that its “crews are currently in Gambela, where the Ethiopian authorities have elected to allocate accommodation at the airport rather than permit them to proceed to their pre-booked hotel.
“The reasons for this, at this time, are not 100 per cent clear.”
Hunegnaw declined to name the nationalities of the pilots.
A source at the U.S. embassy said it was trying to get consular access to the Americans. (dpa/NAN)
IAA/MST
Edited by Isaac Aregbesola/Muhammad Suleiman Tola