Someplace You May Not Want to Fly...

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MBABANE (Reuters) - Swaziland's international airport has no working control
tower or radar system and lighting for night time landings is so poor that
pilots are forced to fly by memory, the government has been told.
Transport Minister Titus Mlangeni told a shocked Swaziland Senate in closed
session Monday that lightning destroyed the airport's radio 18 months ago
and had not been fixed.

"The Senate expressed surprise at the unsafe state of the airport, and at a
lack of security. The machine that screens baggage does not work," Senate
deputy speaker Abadnego Dlamini told Reuters Tuesday.

Jabu Ngubane, a senior air traffic controller, confirmed severe problems at
Matsapha airport.

"Instruments to record wind velocity and direction are inoperative, and with
the radio broken there is no way for the control tower to communicate with
aircraft," he said.

The Transport Ministry has said it is aware of the problems, and intends to
address them, but has given no timeframe.

But carriers flying into the airport warn that the state of the airport
makes it an accident waiting to happen.

"Conditions are extremely dangerous in fog, rain and at night. It is just a
matter of time before a plane crashes in Swaziland," said Dwayne Elderkin,
operations manager of Stephen Air Charter Services, one of two regular
operators flying into the airport

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