Tunisian Pilot Reveals How Libyan Authority Ordered Super Eagles’ Flight Diversion [Video]

The Tunisian pilot of the ValueJet plane that flew Nigeria’s Super Eagles to Libya claims he was ordered by Libyan authorities to divert the plane to a different location.

This revelation follows complaints from the Super Eagles players, who accused Libyan authorities of keeping them hostage without food and water ahead of their scheduled match on Tuesday.

The Nigerian team eventually boycotted the AFCON qualifier game after being stranded at the airport for 20 hours.

In a video, the Tunisian pilot who flew the Suoer Eagles revealed that the original plan was to land in Benghazi, with the necessary clearance from Libyan aviation authorities.

However, he said that just as they were nearing their destination, they were suddenly instructed to change course.

“The flight plan was to land in Benghazi. We got the approval from the Libyan civil aviation authority that we were approved to land,” the pilot explained.

“But unfortunately, when we started the descent, they asked us to divert to Mitiga, which is almost 150 miles (300 km) away. This was not even our alternate airport.”

The pilot expressed concerns about the diversion, warning officials that it would affect their fuel levels and could endanger the flight’s safety.

“I asked them several times, at least eight times, and I warned them that I would be in trouble for the fuel situation.

“They said it was from the highest authority and that we had to divert to Mitiga immediately,” the pilot recounted.

The pilot said he ultimately followed the directive, and the plane safely landed in Mitiga without any issues.

However, he noted that Mitiga’s airport was poorly equipped, lacking proper landing aids, which made the visual landing more challenging.

He said, “Even the airport in Mitiga was not well-equipped. There was no ILS, no other approach aids, so we had to land visually,l.

“It was our first and last chance with this changing company, and I know the area very well, but it was not an easy matter at all.”

“This is our flight plan. We cannot hide anything. There is a lot of cross-checking and redundancy in aviation, so they cannot hide this information or say anything other than the truth,” the pilot stated.

Watch the video below:

 

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KanyiDaily recalls that the Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong called the situation “disgraceful,” accusing the Libyan authorities of playing “mind games.”