A LIVINGSTONE-BOUND Proflight Zambia plane Boeing 737-200 carrying 75 passengers yesterday aborted its flight after developing a mechanical fault a few minutes after take-off at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport.
The aircraft, which took off at 12:30, was forced to land shortly.
Proflight Zambia spokesperson Gillian Langmead confirmed the incident in response to a press query, saying the alternative aircraft arranged to ferry the passengers to Livingstone would continue to operate until the plane is cleared by engineers.
Ms Langmead said management has instituted investigations into the cause of the mechanical fault on the plane.
“The aircraft which took the passengers to Livingstone will be used until our current 737 is signed out by engineering to resume operations. The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority,” Ms Langmead said.
She said Proflight Zambia takes pride in its excellent safety record and at no point was there any danger to the passengers or crew.
Ms Langmead said a 737-200 aircraft had been deployed from Johannesburg and was expected to arrive in Lusaka at 18:00 yesterday.
When it landed, the plane was rolled from the runway to the former Zambezi Airways hangar for inspections.
A check at the airport found the aircraft at the hangar, surrounded by engineers.
A Daily Mail crew that rushed to the airport found the alternative plane arranged to ferry the passengers to Livingstone at 14:10 hours.
Some workers at Proflight Zambia airport office said management had managed to arrest the situation.
Thank God that the problem was discovered in time.
The captain made the decision to discontinue flight P0704 from Lusaka to Livingstone while still on the runway, and the aircraft came to a smooth halt before taxiing back to the terminal in a normal manner.
At no point was there a danger to passengers or crew.
Four further aircraft were mobilised to enable passengers to continue their journey to Livingstone, with delays of between two and two-and-half hours.
Immediate action has been taken to investigate the matter, and engineers are examining the aircraft.
An additional B737-200 aircraft was deployed from Johannesburg within a few hours and will be used until the airline’s current 737 is cleared by engineers to resume operations.
Next time make sure that all neccessary check ups are ensued before being cleared to carry passengers, am not at liberty to lecture you on anything concerning this topic, it shows how allert your crew is considering the fast reaction and response they demostrated. Good luck there is too much competition out there and peoples lives are in your hands once they board the plan.
And how much is it From solwezi to Lusaka… one way?
Did you guys check the engine oil ?
Please don’t let Post newspaper get hold of this story, they are experts in fabricating stories and creating false alarms to injure businesses…am just saying
Scary…, am still afraid of flying no matter how many times, i can imagine how scared they must have been, nowonder some of us start drinking as soon as we get settled. Thank God they are all safe.
Naiwe ka ? Ala mwandi even me ndakolwa when flying coz the last thing i always want is to think about how vulnerable being in the air is.
We thank God for the quick action by the pilot and crew.
It must be the carburretor !
Or Shocks. Too much gonga shocks on the market
Its high time our African skies were liberated so as small airlines like Proflight could invest in brand new mid-range aircraft like Brazilian Embraer jets not these outdated Boeing B737-200 that belong in the scrap yard.
Most of these planes in service in African skies can not be allowed to fly in Europe as they are too old and do not meet the allowed safety requirements.
True….
The owners of Proflight must be buying spares from China! Why put the lives of innocent people on the line just because you want to make a killing?? What a shame! Trying to make billions at the expence of unsuspecting passengers??
@Mumbi Mukasa
Its not CHEAP to run an AIRLINE COMPANY in Africa or anywhere and DON’T compare it to running a fleet of buses based at intercity Lusaka…these are the issues you should carefully take note before your gov’t decides to create a national airline at taxpayer’s expense.
@Jay Jay cacine mudala wandi! Those Embraer E190 from Brazil are by far better than that ka Boeing 737-200. have jumped on one, twice between Jozi and Maputo and eish!, i enjoyed it. Both take off and landing were so smooth. In the skies no ama bumps bakamba just smooth running. Hell came when i jumped on a chi Boeing by one ComAir to Lstone. Ama brakes pakwiminina yaleuma metal to metal ne chongo sana. That was my worst ever experience in the skies.
@Jay Jay, cacine mudala wandi! Those Embraer E190 from Brazil are by far better than that ka Boeing 737-200. have jumped on one, twice between Jozi and Maputo and eish!, i enjoyed it. Both take off and landing were so smooth. In the skies no ama bumps bakamba just smooth running. Hell came when i jumped on a chi Boeing by one ComAir to Lstone. Ama brakes pakwiminina yaleuma metal to metal ne chongo sana. That was my worst ever experience in the skies.
Boeing 737-200 Powered By Pratt And Whitney JT-8D Engines
Why Is it that Proflight are using an outdated aircraft introduced in 1969?
These old aircraft are flying time bombs. They are prone to pressurization and metal fatigue problems.
@Air Navigator
In a nutshell…almost all African countries have signed up to the Yamoussoukro Air Liberalization Agreement; which states that only African airlines should have unimpeded rights over all regional and domestic routes in turn allow local airlines to dominate their market and have a traffic base which allows them to compete with foreign airlines on intercontinental routes. This is what it says on paper but on the ground things are different none of these African countries including Zambia have opened up their skies.
When our skies are liberated it will be much easier for small airlines like Proflight to access funding to acquire better fuel efficient modern midrange aircraft which in turn will lead to bigger more efficient better managed and profitable airlines.
Thank You Jay Jay, But Climbing On Those Aircraft Will Be A Bigger Gamble With Death.
Firstly, questions to be asked are
1. Where is this plane serviced?
2. Why do we allow 40 year old planes?
3. Is Proflight talking to the right people?
Proflight are as good as the national airline
and they need the support especially from our
local banks and government.
The same mistake that was made over Zambian Airways should not be repeated here. The owners of this airline already have another problem (Zambeef) that need solutions.
Why do you use article from the Daily Mail without attribution?
Most if not all of the Zambian online publications plagiarize. Once, I even caught The Post newspaper online version plagiarize an article from BBC.CO.UK. They withdrew it after I threatened to report them.
But By Using Old Aircraft, These Airlines Are Gambling With The Lives And Crew Who Fly On These Outdated Old Aircraft….Its Also Surprising How Accidents Don’t Even Happen….I don’t Know, Its Just A Matter of Time.
I Would Not Like To Hear Of An Incident, Which was Caused By Something To Do With The Aircraft’s Age.
Things are not going right for the Irwins. First, Zambeef and now the airline too.
A 737 that has either done 20+ years of flying or 20000+ hours of flight time is old and only fit for the Arizona desert, where most planes are junked.
Now we await a statement from HH, in which he will blame PF . for the plane’s mechanical fault, or whatever.
What do you expect from flight Mechanics and Pilots that are fed on embalmed beef?
proflight @ it again passengers stranded in solwezi to when their plane developed a fault ,the lower door hing gave up @ solwezi airport causing panic to the passenger both arriving and departures.