MaurineTheuri
Member
On Sunday, April 4, an Ethiopian Airlines plane was forced to land at an uncompleted airport in Zambia after its pilot lost control. After a landing glitch, the cargo plane touched down at an airport under construction in Zambia's northern Copperbelt province.
The pilot flying from Addis Ababa to the southern African country lost communication with the control tower before he could land and was forced to use his sight, DW reported.
Zambia's Transport Permanent Secretary, Misheck Lungu, confirmed the incident and stated the pilot had landed at the future Copperbelt International Airport 'by error'.
The government official said investigations into the occurrence had been launched, adding no one was injured during the incident, and no damage was incurred. The Copperbelt International Airport is a new airport developed in Ndola city and named after the copper-rich Copperbelt Province.
The KSh 43.2 billion facility was supposed to be completed in mid-2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged the world, delayed its construction. Ethiopian Airlines was forced to turn into cargo business following the pandemic, which halted most aviation operations with the transport of passengers the most affected to curb the disease's spread.
In April 2020, at the onset of respiratory illness in Africa, the Ethiopian bagged a lucrative deal to fly cargo across Africa. This came after Ethiopia and the United Nations (UN) opened a humanitarian transport hub at Addis Ababa airport to move supplies and aid workers across Africa to fight COVID-19.
"The UN World Food Programme chooses Addis Ababa as a humanitarian shipment hub for Africa to distribute medical supplies with the Ethiopian. We are pleased to serve amidst this challenging time," the airline tweeted.