Four Grahamstown pilots were among several arrested in Ondangwa, Namibia this weekend because of a paperwork problem.
Four Grahamstown pilots were among several arrested in Ondangwa, Namibia this weekend because of a paperwork problem.
Larry and Sharon McGillewie, Ron and Loraine Weissenberg, Matthys Bosch and JP Oehlerking from Grahamstown were among a group of 22 people travelling through Namibia when they were stopped and their pilots arrested.
Larry McGillewie is the chief flight instructor at Grahamstown Flight School and organised the trip. He told Namibian newspaper Die Republikein a large group of police officers and Civil Aviation Authority officials awaited them upon landing in Ondangwa around 8pm on Saturday. Their aircraft were also seized.
They were released yesterday morning, but are reportedly still being held in custody, unsure of when their microlight planes would be returned.
While the reasons for their arrest are unclear, an SMS from the group stated: "It is a public holiday here and apparently CAA should not have let us fly today".
While the Namibian Civil Aviation Authorities issued them with documents authorising them to fly, they still needed what is known an 'overflight' document.
'The Gaggle', as the small group of aviators called themselves, were mainly from the Eastern Cape. They were on a two-week trip around Southern Africa in several NTCA aircraft in support of the Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) to raise awareness around the disease.
"The news we just got was initially very sketchy via SMS from one of the pilots arrested, whose second SMS just stated that he couldn't communicate any more," read an anonymous post on the aviation chat forum www.avcom.co.za.
"If it wasn't for an urgent court order the same night, the group would have been detained until their court appearance [Monday] morning," reported Die Republikein.
At the time of going to print, an anonymous source in Grahamstown told Grocott's Mail the group were busy filing an affidavit, but were concerned about the threat of formal charges from the Namibian CAA.
Those arrested were Peter Bain, Colin Dettmann, Mike Spearpoint and JP du Preez of Port Elizabeth; Piet Swanepoel of Addo; East Londoners Patrick Hill, Bryan Erasmus and Darren Hanner; McGillewie, Weissenberg, Matthys Bosch and JP Oehlerking of Grahamstown.
