A Bombardier Q400 aircraft operated by Mozambique Airlines has been grounded since last night at Chingodzi International Airport in the city of Tete, following a breakdown that prevented it from taking off for Maputo, the newspaper O País reported on Wednesday 24 January.
According to the newspaper, the aircraft should have left at 8.50pm on Tuesday for the capital, carrying around 50 passengers. However, once on the runway, with the engines running and about to fly, the passengers were informed of a technical problem and told to disembark and wait for the problem to be resolved. An hour later, at 11.30pm, they boarded again. The flight captain tried to lift the aircraft, but once again to no avail, and it was then announced that the trip had been cancelled.
Among the passengers were at least three students who were travelling to take their entrance exams at 8am today in Maputo, as well as others who had meetings, connecting flights and other unscheduled appointments.
The LAM team promised that an aircraft would arrive this morning for the passengers on the cancelled flight and others who were due to travel at 8.15am, but this has not yet happened and the uncertainty remains.
