Diplomats are working frantically to get an Air Corps plane back home — after it became stranded in Africa during a top secret mission to evacuate Army officers, it has emerged.
This paper can reveal that the €5 million PC-12, along with its five-strong crew, has been stuck in an east African airport for almost a week — thanks to red tape connected to a hush-hush flight to rescue three Army personnel from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The officers were on a peacekeeping mission there, but the level of violence on international military personnel saw Defence Forces bosses order the secret mission to evacuate the soldiers last week.
The PC-12 with serial number 283 was sent to the war-torn country last week as part of the operation – because the officers had eight Steyr assault rifles and pistols that could not be flown on a commercial airline and had to be brought back to Ireland, along with a large amount of gear.
The plane, which came into Air Corps service at the start of the Covid pandemic, left Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, south Dublin last Tuesday and flew to the Congo via Abruzzo in Italy, Cairo in Egypt, Khartoum in Sudan and Entebbe in Uganda.
The three officers then flew back to Ireland on a commercial flight — as had been the original plan as there was not enough space for them on the PC-12 – which flew to Congo to pick up the weapons and gear.
It then returned to Entebbe Airport where it has been ever since because it has not received the necessary clearance to fly to neighbouring Sudan.
It’s understood international clearance is required from the Sudanese authorities because the PC-12 is carrying the guns.
That red tape delay means the PC-12 — which is now the workhorse of the Air Corps’ fleet — has been grounded at Entebbe Airport, along with its five-strong flight crew.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Defence last night confirmed that its officials and Foreign Affairs diplomats were working to resolve the clearance issue.
She said: “The multinational nature of the return flights from DRC, along with defence materiel, give rise to a complex scenario whereby flight clearances relating to different jurisdictions are for differing periods and times. The Department is working to ensure the flight returns as soon as possible.”
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