Monday 29 February 2016

Back from Doro to Kajo

Today's flight was the return leg for the team I flew up to Doro/Maban last week from Kajo Keji. I always enjoy collecting a team who I've taken on the outward leg of their journey so it was good to do today's flight and to meet the team from Empower One and the Baptist Convention of South Sudan again.

The weather is still very hot and the turbulence is reaching right up to levels where usually we expect to find smooth air. I flew at 12,000 foot on the long leg from the north of the country down to Kajo in the south, but even up there it was a little bumpy. The only consolation was that we had a good tail wind so the flight was 20 minutes shorter than it could have been, but I'm not sure that was much of a consolation to the passengers who felt air-sick...

En-route to Kajo Keji we received a request for a 'medevac' (technically a medical evacuation, although this would more accurately be described as a medical transfer) from Kajo to Juba. Since the aircraft was going to be empty on that leg I was able to collect the man and his carer and bring them to Juba where they will hopefully receive better medical care than is available in Kajo Keji.

Thursday 25 February 2016

Western Equatorian Shuttle

Another shuttle today out to the west. First stop was Yambio, followed by Maridi, Juba (again), Yei (pronounced yay!) and Kajo Keji.

15 passengers in total from organisations including the ECS, Windle Trust, Carter Centre, AMREF and Action Africa Help International.

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Doro Maban

A longer day yesterday with a charter for the Baptist Convention of South Sudan from Kajo Keji to Doro/Maban. I had three joiners in the morning out of Juba to Kajo Keji for International Medical Corps and Scripture Union. After collecting the five charter passengers from Kajo I then returned to Juba to collect a further two pax and to add some fuel before flying the 2.5 hours up to Maban.

The weather is very hot these days, up to around 38 deg C most afternoons, and it is always a relief to climb up to the higher altitudes on longer flights to get away from the heat and the haze.

Today is a non-flying day as we had to go to renew our 6 monthly visas...

Monday 22 February 2016

Loki shuttle

Today I flew a very straightforward shuttle to Loki, mostly for the purpose of swapping one of our aircraft with MAF Kenya for maintenance. I was empty on the way out of Juba, flew direct to Lokichogio and returned to Juba with just 2 pax. One passenger for UNIDO (Universal Intervention and Development Organisation) and one passenger for MSF Holland.

Friday 19 February 2016

Stand by...

I've endeavored to blog each time I fly. Today I didn't fly, but I came pretty close so I think it qualifies for a blog anyway.

Yesterday evening we received a request for a security evacuation from Malakal. There has been fighting within the UN POC camp (Protection of Civilians) and the situation in the town is rather tense. This morning I went to the airport to prepare an aircraft for the flight while our Ops department continued to liaise with the charterer and tried to get the required permissions to fly.

For security reasons Malakal airport was not an option for the flight and the team were prepared to drive a couple of hours to another airstrip to the east along the Nile. We would need a security clearance to fly to that airstrip though and while we waited for the clearance I sat at the airport and waited at the aircraft.

Unfortunately the charterer was unable to get the clearance in time and so, at midday, we locked up the aircraft and returned home. Fortunately the team has a safe place to stay and we will see what we can do next week to get them down to Juba...

Thursday 18 February 2016

Kajo Keji

I had a very short flying day today with just a short hop down to Kajo and back. Three pax on the way out and one on the way back, representing International Medical Corps, ECS and Christian Horizon Global.

The weather is getting very hot now and, together with the haze and the bumpiness, is making short flights rather uncomfortable. At least on longer flights we can climb higher and escape from the heat and haze for a while... Probably another month or so before we can expect any rains which will cool things down a little.

Wednesday 17 February 2016

3 Pax and a lot of timber to Motot

Today I had 3 passengers plus 750kg of freight to go to Motot for Tearfund. The freight was mostly long timbers plus some fresh food for the team based in Motot. An uneventful flight so not a lot to report here.

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Renk and back

Today I took 650kg of freight to Renk for Medair. The freight was made up almost entirely of food supplements for their feeding programme.

On the way back down I had one passenger who had to put up with turbulence for almost half of the 3 hour flight. It's definitely bumpy season...

A bumpy shuttle to Loki

It seems we're into the bumpy season. Yesterday I flew the shuttle to Loki, with stops at Torit and Kapoeta both on the way out and on the way back to Juba, and the conditions were hot, windy and bumpy. Not a pleasant combination for most passengers unfortunately.

Only eight passengers in total, from organisations including Carter Centre, Dan Church Aid and AIM.

Sunday 14 February 2016

I.R. Renewal

It was a cool and rainy morning in Nairobi last Thursday and I found myself getting rather wet doing a pre-flight inspection on a Caravan outside the MAF hangar. Cool weather and rain are both a bit of a novelty when you're living in Juba in the dry season, but I could have done without the rain on this occasion.

To fly the Caravan in MAF we need to hold an Instrument Rating, and in order to keep this rating current we need to do a Check Ride (a bit like a driving test) once a year with a Civil Aviation Authority authorised Examiner. Since I needed to renew both my Medical Certificate and my Instrument Rating I had travelled down to Nairobi for a two night stop over to get these done.

The rainy weather did delay our departure by about an hour, but thankfully we were able to complete the flight and I'm signed off for another year. The doctor also deemed me to be healthy enough to fly a plane, so all in all a successful trip. I guess that means you can expect a few more blogs from me...

Tuesday 9 February 2016

A link with London

Today's flights were all passenger flights with stops in Kapoeta, Yei and Kajo Keji. Pax were from Samaritan's Purse, Carter Centre, Holy Trinity Peace Village, Zoa, American Refugee Committee, Comboni Missionary Sisters, and Tearfund.

One of the Tearfund passengers was a friend of ours from our home church in London and it was a real highlight for me to be able to fly her down to Kajo Keji. This was the first time in our six years with MAF that I have had the opportunity to fly somebody from one of our home churches so I was really pleased that it worked out today.

Torit and Motot

Yesterday I had two rotations, one was all passengers and the other almost all freight.

Until Sunday evening I was only expecting one flight out to Motot for Tearfund. On Sunday evening a request came in to Ops for a flight to take eight people from Torit out to Lokichogio in Kenya and that flight was slotted in before the Motot flight.

The flight from Torit to Loki was for Caritas Switzerland and was uneventful.

The freight for Motot consisted mostly of plastic water pipes, bags of cement and plastic chairs and tables. After offloading the freight and before departing again for Juba there was a bit of a commotion in the village and a single gunshot rang out, followed by armed men moving out from the village towards the bush. We left rather promptly after that! I've since learned that some cattle raiders had been seen some distance away and the shot was a sign to the youth of the village to mobilize to intercept the raiders. Another day in South Sudan...

Thursday 4 February 2016

Out west again

Another shuttle to Western Equatoria today with stops in Maridi, Ibba and Nzara. 8 pax out of Juba with another 4 joining along the way. Passengers were for Action Africa Help International, Christ's Disciples, World Relief, Don Bosco, Windle Trust and the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (ECS).

Wednesday 3 February 2016

Old Fangak

What a great name :)

It's been almost a year since I last flew in to Old Fangak so it was good to go back again. In the rainy season it can be a challenging airstrip as it gets quite soft and muddy but at this time of year it is a nice airstrip to go to. The village is on the other side of a bend in the river and the boats which transport people and goods to the airstrip park right at the threshold of the runway. It's a beautiful place.


Today's flight was for Presbyterian Relief Development Agency with 2 pax and 750kg of freight, mostly sacks of beans and maize.

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Western Equatoria Shuttle

Today I flew a shuttle out to Western Equatoria, stopping in Maridi, Ibba and Mundri. No freight today, only passengers (18 in total), and organizations included World Relief, Don Bosco, Amref Health Africa, Sudan Christian Mission and UNFPA.