Dozens of passengers for Malawian Airlines at Chileka and Kamuzu International airports failed to take off for South Africa on Sunday morning because of lack of a fire fighting engine at Chileka airport.
Angry passengers said the plane was supposed to leave Chileka Airport at 8 am but as per international aviation standards, the plane could not take off without a fire fighting engine.
The spokesperson for Malawian Airlines Oxyviela Bunya confirmed the incident but said a fire fighting engine had been sourced from the Malawi Defence Force at Cobbe Barracks in Zomba to Blantyre.
"This is a huge setback indeed," said Bunya.
She said the provision of a fire fighting engine lies in the hands of airport management not airlines therefore Malawian Airlines sourced the fire fighting engine from the army in order not to inconvenience passengers.
Bunya said the Boeing 737 was supposed to get passengers from Chileka then Kamuzu International airports before proceeding to South Africa.
This is the first known serious incident in the aviation industry since the country has seriously been hit by economic turbulence following the withdrawal of aid by traditional donors.
Source: http://allafrica.com
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