Plans changed just before lunch time when I received a call from Ops asking if I could do a 'rescue' flight to take an MAF engineer up to Kaabong, in the Karamoja area, where another of our Caravans had suffered a partial brake failure during landing. I changed into my uniform and headed down to the airfield at Kajjansi as soon as I could and prepared another aircraft for the flight.
It's an hour and a half flight up to Kaabong and we arrived mid-afternoon to find the pilot and 5 tired pax waiting for us at the airstrip with the aircraft. We transferred the passengers' bags to my aircraft and I took them on to their final destination, Kalongo, about half an hour away while Matt, the other pilot, and Geoff, the engineer, remained to sort out the brakes on the original aircraft.
Considering my five passengers were now about 4 hours late I wouldn't have been surprised if there were only a few people to welcome them in Kalongo, but there were hundreds of people at the airstrip and they were welcomed like celebrities! (see the video below)
