Member of Parliament for Sefhare-Ramokgonami constituency, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang, was among passengers who refused to travel by Air Botswana flight after it made a U-turn on their way to South Africa last weekend.
It is said on Sunday, the aircraft that was en-route to Johannesburg, returned mid-way back to Sir Seretse Khama International Airport after it was reported to be having a faulty sound.
When reached for a comment, Gobotswang who was on an official trip said he could notice something was wrong when they experienced violent turbulence and thought the pilot was avoiding a cloud.
He said a few minutes later an announcement was made to the effect that the flight may be having a mechanical fault and that it had to turn back.
“Air Botswana is a flying coffin. After we landed at SSKA, we were made to wait at the lounge while the aircraft was attended to. We waited there without any communication. I was expecting us to find senior management or the officer on duty to apologise for the inconvenience and trauma but that did not happen. One of the passengers called their General Manager but she was not even aware of the situation. We were told to wait for the aircraft to get fixed so we could get back on it and continue with our trip. Mephato Reatile and I refused to gamble with our lives. We decided to go home and we travelled by road,” said Gobotswang.
Gobotswang said he travelled with Reatile by road to attend the PAN African Parliament.
He said they were not going to be comfortable even at the slightest turbulence, hence their decision to travel by road.
Gobotswang said he has submitted his claim demanding a refund for his travel costs. “We met other members of parliament in Midrand who had decided to continue with the trip and they are still traumatised. They said the aircraft landed at a high speed that they prayed for their lives. It was a bad experience. Just last week there were some issues debated about our airline and Minister Molale assured parliament that everything was fine,” he added.
When reached for a comment, Air Botswana Public Relations and Communications Manager, Kefilwe Kebafetotse, said the airline had to do a precautionary turn-back following a non-mechanical fault observed by the crew during operation.
She said the airline implemented the necessary action that rendered the aircraft serviceable and fit for operation.
“Air Botswana maintains the highest operational safety standards as evidenced by successful international operational safety audits, conducted every two years. We assure the public and travelling community that safety remains a top priority and passengers will not be compromised at any given point. To uphold high safety standards, the airline continues to adhere to the strictest procedures and regulations to ensure that its operations and passengers are safe, at all times,” said Kebafetotse
