An Air Zimbabwe (AirZim) plane failed to travel from the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg after it ruptured its two rear tyres on Friday morning.
The flight, Boeing 767, which was being flown by Captain Merna Cremer — wife to Zimbabwe cricket team captain Graeme Cremer — only managed to leave the airport the following morning.
Cremer tweeted that the extended delay was “a result of uneven brake heating” in response to a question by a passenger that follows her on the micro-blogging site.
AirZim corporate affairs and communications manager Tafadzwa Mazonde confirmed the developments in an interview with the Daily News yesterday.
Mazonde said the beleaguered airline had to book its affected passengers into hotels around Johannesburg where they spent the night on Friday.
“The plane could not travel due to a tyre incident but it finally came on Saturday morning. The passengers were given hotel accommodation on Friday night,” he said.
Although Mazonde could not give further details on the cause and effect of the incident, the Daily News has gathered information from its reliable sources in the aviation industry that the incident could have been a result of poor fleet maintenance.
“I understand that investigations are going on to establish the actual cause of the accident but preliminary investigations are that it could have been a result of poor maintenance on the part of Air Zimbabwe.
“Double punctures are extremely rare and that’s why it is pointing to poor maintenance,” said a highly placed aviation source.
It also emerged that the plane had just one spare wheel and had to wait for another plane to travel from Harare to Johannesburg with the spare wheel, which could only be installed on Saturday morning.
“They had gone with just one spare wheel and had to look for another flight from Harare to bring the other one.
“Unfortunately, for the passengers, that other spare wheel was only delivered around 7pm in the evening on Friday and could not be fixed on time for the flight to take off, so they had to wait till the following morning,” the source said.
The incident is the latest manifestation of the rot at AirZim, whose recovery prospects were recently declared to be dead in the waters by Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Joram Gumbo.
In May last year, AirZim planes flights were barred from European Union countries after it failed to meet minimum safety expectations set out by the International Air Travel Association (Iata).
Currently, the troubled airline is operating without the Iata certification and is limited to servicing local and regional routes, albeit with great difficulties.
In November last year, Gumbo told Parliament that AirZim’s planes were “old and noisy” and added that its recovery prospects were very slim given its high indebtedness.
At independence in 1980, the airline had 18 planes in its fleet, but today it is operating at less than a third of its all-time peak.
Operations at AirZim are also weighed down by a $334 million debt it is struggling to repay. Daily News
Etihad Airways plane’s tyre bursts while landing at Mumbai airport.Packed Lufthansa plane bursts FOUR of its eight tyres during ‘scary’ landing leaving it stranded on the runway for 22 hours. We are in a technological advanced where info is available. Wakatengwa marii nhai iwe reporter weZimeye to give such half baked info. Shame on you. Nyara mhani.
This is not news , tyre bursts are very common and unless the aircraft runs off the runway a tyre burst is no considered an accident or even an incident. A double tyre burst is almost certainly as a result of FOD (Foreign object damage) The aircraft ran over something on take off or landing. How many times have you ever 2 car tyres burst at thr same time unless you drove over something sharp.
Mnangagwa will release a statement saying that the nations needs a free and fair travel system which he will announce in three months time. If that does not work, he will ask the European Union to fund a new program called Command Flying, which will involve all citizens.
Pilot competency needs to be reviewed as well
its unfortunate the reporter has a sinister motive towards Air Zimbabwe. Tyre bursts occurs to any airline. There is nothing new only for reporters who are focussed on Air Zim alone and dont carry out research. We dont need such reporters in the new dispensation who are used in not doing due diligence check before publishing a story. Air Zim has its woes just like any airline but to say out of the blues that its due to poor maintenance without verifying facts leaves a lot to be desired. l believe l dont have to teach you your job but there basic things about journalism. This kind only destroys the nation rather than building. Get your facts right before going to print. This malicious reporting destroys instead of building.
Evidence of a clean safety record? Imagine burst tire on taking off or on landing!
Air Zim yotokwiriwa nge vane moyo yakasimba. Kwete vana buya zonke!