Correspondent|NATIONAL carrier Air Zimbabwe has released a press statement regarding Tuesday’s mid-air turn back of Dar es Salaam bound flight UM438.

The Air Zimbabwe plane experienced a technical fault on flight and had to retun to Harare. Passengers who were on board said it was a frightening experience as the plane took a sharp descent when it was about 50 minutes in flight. The plane had left Harare at 13.20 hrs.

Air Zimbabwe has issued a press statement, saying the plane returned due to bad weather. We publish their full statememt below.

After the incident, Air Zimbabwe officials told passengers to check in on Wednesday at 13:00 hrs for a replacement flight. However, at around 18.00 hrs Tuesday, the airline started calling passengers asking them to return for a replacement flight at 22.00 hrs.

Meanwhile, two of the passengers interviewed on Tuesday have indicated that they are now in Dar es Salaam after Air Zimbabwe replaced the problem aircraft with another one late night Tuesday.

The replacement flight landed in Dar es Salaam at around 3.30am Wednesday. Passengers waiting for the same flight in Tanzania were stranded and with no official communication from the airline.