Captain’s Log-7 May 2013- Unexpected Pleasures

Today I was meant to be in the office.  Not my wonderful airplane office but the real, 4 walls, desk, computers, finances, business stuff.  I do it to be helpful but it is really not my thing.  But as I was out the door, I got a call from Emmanuel de Merode, the warden/Director of Virunga National Park where I had left Owen Fuller yesterday because of bad weather.  He was coming up to Butembo in the little parks Cessna 182 and could bring Owen with him but wondered if I could do a 50 hour inspection on his plane while he was in Bunia.  I love helping National Parks and told Emmanuel it would be a pleasure.  This saved us a trip back down to Rumangabo and I would be out of the office for the morning.  Nice!

The new paint scheme on the Virunga Parks plane. No, it’s not “like a banana”, Lu!

It was great to spend some time with Emmanuel and also to have Owen back safe with his family.  The little adventures of life make it all worth while.  The parks plane was in good shape for another 50 hours and looked very sharp in its new paint colours.  My sister, Lu, thinks it looks like a big banana but the yellow is way too mustardy for that.

After lunch I took Emmanuel back out to the airport for the flight back.  And I went back to my other office to catch up on the paperwork of life.  Oh well, it can’t all go my way.

Captain’s Log-6 May 2013-Bad and Beautiful

It had been a brilliant day of bad and beautiful weather and as Jonathan Blomberg and I took off from Goma in bright sunshine for the 10 minute flight to Katali to pick up our IT specialist, Owen Fuller, we could see the dark grey clouds right to the ground in the pass between the two volcano’s.   This was going to be a bit tricky.

Nyamuragira volcano in the clear but all around Rumangabo and the pass through are blocked by clouds. We would have to leave Owen there. 

The whole side of Nyiragongo volcano was visible right up to the top but down at the bottom a wall of clouds were right in the trees.  We thought of going around but then as we got closer could see that we could get over the top and through to the other side.  Then we descended back down to see if we could get in to Rumangabo area from the other side of the pass but it was just not possible.  We climbed back up and went west over Nyamuragira (10,823 ft.), the other active volcano in the park and started looking for a way through to Bunia.  Owen would have to wait for another time.  Although I hated leaving him, I knew he would have a great experience at the camp.

The OEIL guys from the reconciliation conference would not get to see any elephants today.  But talking to Daniel about the meetings renewed my belief that the ministry of reconciliation, (2 Cor. 5:18), they do is the great hope for Congo which has suffered for centuries of tribal fighting and war.

Daniel and his OEIL crew ride back to Nyankunde after a successful conference on Reconciliation. I love flying these guys.    They do an amazing job.

We ran along the mountain ridge to the west of Lake Edward as the weather improved.

There was a lot of “cumulo-granite” around here but as we climbed alongside the billowing clouds, we started to see some blue sky high above.  Some of our pilots and the flight follower told us the weather was better up ahead of us so we circled as we climbed up to 13,500 feet, always with our “out” over our shoulder.  We topped the clouds and ran the ridgeline along Lake Edward in the blue sky with solid clouds to our left but a view of the jagged Rewenzori mountain range to our right with fresh snow on the peaks.  Oh, did I forget to mention that we had got a load of medicine and supplies down to the remote Grace Mission hospital in Kipaka?  What a beautiful day at the office.

Captain’s Log- 13 April 2013- Pilot Friend Missing on Ferry Flight

My friend Jerry Krause, who used to be an MAF pilot here in Congo, has gone missing on a flight from South Africa to Mali.  After MAF left Mali, Jerry stayed on to work with Sahel Aviation Service, SAS.  He was ferrying a Beech 1900C to Bamako when his plane went missing.  He was scheduled to land at Sao Tome Island but after a reported call “from 9 miles out” nothing has been heard since.  That was Sunday.  Please join us in praying for his wife, Gina, and the family and that he will be found alive and well.  A plane searched yesterday with no joy and I hear boats have gone out looking as well.  You can see more and maybe help on a website the family has put up at http://findjerry.com

Jerry and Gina Krause and the girls-Alyssa and Jessica

Captain’s Log-16 March 2013-Snakes and Ladders

Jon the snake joins Bob and Samuel and others in the enclosure at the snake park. They weave and dance a welcome.

It was the big NDT inspection on the Caravan and we had the wings and tail and landing gear and engine ripped off the bare looking fuselage as everything was being checked. But this is Africa and the airstrip and hangar at Kajjansi are right close to the lake shore of Lake Victoria.  The biggest lake in Africa.  And surrounding much of the lake are large areas of papyrus, which is prime breeding grounds for snakes of many kinds.  I have standing instructions to all the grounds staff that I want to see any snakes they find.  I have had great fun with this and caught some amazing snakes.  One being the biggest Python I have ever seen or had the privilege to play with.   So when I got a call from Michel the airport manager, I grabbed a broom and went out to see what this snake might be.

There was some confusion when I arrived.  There was the tractor used to mow the runway with a bunch of guys using it as a ladder to escape the snake, standing on the seat and engine tires, while a quad was right up close like there had been an accident.  Michel was standing on the seat of the quad.

I asked where the snake was and he said that it was under the quad with the tire on it.  I was not too worried about the snake as the grass was thick and soft. But I was a bit worried for the guys when the snake was not visual.  I jumped up on the tractor and tried to find it from a safe vantage point.  I told Michel that the snake could have a very long reach if the quad was only on its tail.  He made an admirable leap away from the quad and ran to a safe place.

I finally found the snake mixed up in the thick grass and could see that it was a forest cobra.  It could have easily come out and hooked Michel if it had wanted.  I managed to get the broom on its head while the other guys moved the quad away and I was able to pick up the cobra behind the head.  It is always interesting handling poisonous snakes.  A mix of respect and heavy adrenaline and wonder.

A nice young Forest Cobra tries to squirm out of my grasp as Michel still stands up on the back of the quad

The Forest cobra is one of the most common snakes in the area and I had caught or killed them before.  There is always a big debate with the guys, as they want to kill all the snakes.  I reckon any snake I save is a rare and good thing, but these guys are surrounded by these snakes as they work and I can’t blame them for wanting to stay alive.  We talked of letting it go further away from their work but they didn’t like that.  Death was the popular vote.  I finally said I would take it to the new snake park just a few kilometers away and that made them happy.  I took it to the hangar to find a box.  It is amazing the reactions you will get from the average person here.  People do not like snakes!

I found a nice thick box to put it in and at lunch I drove the box up to the snake park.  They were very excited to have a new snake and it took a place with 6 other forest cobras in a very nice, large enclosure.  As they opened the door, all the cobras stood, as if to attention, and flared their necks beautifully.  The snake handler asked me what my name was as he took the snake out of the box.  I said, “Jon”.  He said then “Jon the snake will join Bob and Samuel and the others.  We always name them after the person who brings them in.”  Nice.

I played with a couple of the big pythons and looked around the snake park before leaving to get some more work done on the plane.  It was a nice distraction and what makes the job continually fun and exciting.

Captain’s Log-10 March 2013-Plane Crash in Goma

This is the line of crash from the lake shore to the resting place in someones from garden.

This Monday a CAA Fokker 50 airliner crashed in bad weather into a residential area of Goma.  Rain and hail were reported at the time of the approach to land.  The aircraft hit an antenna at the UN compound right on the lake shore.  Part of the wing fell in a street a second later and the plane came to rest after hitting the roof of a house and a few stone walls.  Seven people were killed, including the crew, but three survived and it was truly amazing that no one on the ground was killed.  My sister, LuAnne Cadd, flew over a few days later with Lary Strietzel, one of our MAF pilots, and took some pictures.

This shows some of the damage as the plane came to rest. Amazing that nobody was killed on the ground.

I was shocked to hear the news but not surprised.  This happens with frightening regularity.  While looking for a picture to put on here I ran across another story I wrote last year but never put on the blog.  I will put it below just to give you a feel for flying in Congo.

A bit of the wing in the street after hitting an antenna. A very low approach.

First strike was the antenna at the UN compound on the Lake Kivu shoreline.

(Prior plane crash story in Eastern Congo)
I was in Bukavu on Monday to pick up pax for Bunia and there was murmuring  all around from the workers.  It seemed that one of the local Antonov 28’s was 3 hours overdue and faces were drawn and sober.  They told me that they had warned the pilot that the weather at his destination was not good but he had gone anyway.  It was sunny in Bukavu and it is common for pilots in this type of situation to go ahead and take a look, planning to turn around if weather becomes a problem en route.  Being a bit late is nothing unusual, still it was disconcerting to think about.
Two days later I was back to take a load of hospital supplies to the Kipaka Grace Hospital and all seemed well.  As I was paying the landing fees and taxes a man rushed in and was speaking French rapidly.  The man at the table started yelling and stood up shaking his hands in the air.  It was not happiness or grief, and I couldn’t put an emotion to it.  Just noisy!  Everyone was talking and finally one of the men turned to me and said, “It is the plane from Monday.  It has crashed in the forest and all is lost!”  Then he said, “one was refurbished”.  I don’t know if that meant one was alive or one had just received treatment, but it was a strange way to put it.

It is always sobering for a pilot to hear of such things and know that there are some very tricky situations out there and not everyone walks away.  It is a wakeup call to keep to your safety standards and do the work it takes to avoid accidents.  And it is work in this environment.

I am always surprised at the number of derelict aircraft on any given runway in Congo.  It was said in a recent National Geographic documentary that Goma is the most dangerous airport in Africa, which should certainly make it one of the most dangerous in the world.  The surrounding area with it’s high mountains and related weather must surely be part of that danger, but judging from the pile of planes alongside the runway, they may not be the only problem.

Since I wrote this another aircraft has crashed in Bukavu, running off the end of the runway and killing many on board, including a top government minister.  And yesterday a Boeing had tires blow out on landing.

A few months ago they got all…well most, of the broken planes around the Goma airport and put them in two bigger piles.  It is quite a sight.  Boeing 727’s, 707’s, a Buffalo, a Dornier, and assorted Antonov’s.  And that doesn’t even count the bits and pieces left over from really bad crashes.  It makes one think.

One of the piles of damaged airplanes alongside the Goma airport.

Captain’s Log-15 February 2013-A Bunia Funeral

Surrounded by her lady friends through the whole funeral while singing and preaching carried on for hours.  A lovely picture of Sofia in the top of the picture.

Sunday morning we got word that Lilas’s mother, Sophie, had died the night before, there would be people to help direct us to the funeral arriving in just 2 hours, and so we got ready.  I had been sick so, knowing that these things often are only really getting started 3 hours after the announced time, I wanted to go but wasn’t sure I had enough energy for the event. But it was our co-worker, Lilas, and his mother was a special lady.

Elders and family members gather around the casket to pray. Our MAF pilot, Jonathan Blomberg in the front row.

She was a nurse at the CME clinic in Bunia and had actually helped Cher once when she was there.  We followed another car full of MAF people and arrived at her home area with things already under way.  Right in the middle of the path/road in front of her house tarps had been strung up with a hundred chairs and benches underneath.  On each side of that area there were houses and people stood among them and in large numbers far beyond each end of the shaded area.  Though it is hard to estimate numbers when the whole view is blocked, I know there were easily over 300 people gathered there.  We could see that this woman was very loved in the community.

One lady cried over her friend for a long time while being comforted and patted by the others. Then sat down in the dirt for the rest of the service.

We could see that this woman was very loved in the community.  Much singing and praying and preaching followed, but all in what seemed a more natural, easy manner than the average mzungu funeral.  The casket was open but covered with a cloth, revealing only Sophie’s face.  Her women friends and family were gathered on benches all around her the whole time and shooed flies or leaned on the coffin and continued to care for her to the last.  A steady stream of people passed by throughout the time we were there and stood looking in at her one last time.  One lady stayed for a long time weeping and touching her while other ladies tried to console her, patting her arm and back.  She finally sat down in the dirt with her feet under the table the casket lay on and joined the other women friends in their vigil.  A breeze cooled us as the preacher spoke and the tarps overhead seemed to breathe like lungs, rising as if taking in air and then lowering gently as if breathing out slowly, giving a sense of life, rather than death, to the scene.  The colourful Congolese dress of the people brought further life to what could have been a much sadder event.  We enjoyed being there.  People laughed more than cried.  Yes, a friend had been lost but it was truly a celebration of the life of a fine woman and I was filled with hope.  That is all a part of the good news we have in Christ.

Parking fills the road a little further down from the funeral with Owen Fuller, our IT specialist, standing among the motorcycles in his suit.

Captain’s Log-28 November 2012-Bunia Violence as Goma Falls to Rebels

The MONUSCO club with burnt out UN vehicle out front.   Best steak in town. We watched the World Cup Football there and often ate there.

It has been an interesting week.  I wish I could tell you all of it, but it’s just not possible.  Cher and I had gone to Uganda to do a big maintenance operation on the Caravan.  We had the tail feathers off, the landing gear, the engine and engine mounts, the wings, and the whole interior out of the fuselage.  It was really torn to pieces.  Probably not the best of timing for this to come due because the rebel group, M23, down in North Kivu province was working its way toward Goma, the provincial capital.  I know, Congo only gets little strips across the bottom of your TV News channel while other stories are actually on the bigger bit with the picture.  But it is a real war going on here with tanks and helicopters shooting rockets and all.  Anyway, M23 finally took Goma.
For those of you following the blog, my sister Lu, who lives and works in Rumangabo, the Virunga National Parks headquarters, has been evacuated out to Goma for a while because of fighting and the M23 presence in the park.  When Goma fell to M23 she had to make tracks across the border to Gisenyi, which was only a couple hundred meters away in Rwanda. The towns run together almost as one and the airports are parallel to each other so that occasionally, on smoky days, I have thought I was lined up to land at Goma but was closer to Gisenyi.
There is a lot to that story, which is far from over, and you should follow it online, but it also had it’s fallout on us in Bunia.  It is perceived that the UN did not do enough to help in the battle for Goma, and so in cities all over Congo people rioted.  In Bunia, the UN’s HQ right in town was attacked with buildings and vehicles stoned, vehicles and other things burnt and the offices and even homes of UN workers and NGOs looted.  As a result, it seems there are now 5 shot dead and 11 wounded from the rioting.   It was pretty terrible.

Outside UN organizations like UNHCR and UNICEF lay a pile of burnt motorcycles, typewriters, wheelbarrows, and things to destroyed to recognize. Much was looted.

Our families were evacuated out under some quite exciting and stressful circumstances.
I went back in to Bunia to help with evacuations and to be on the ground to evaluate the security situation daily as well as keep flying.  There were quite  lot of the NGO’s people stuck in one of the UN bases where they had fled for security who were very anxious to get out, and we organized MAF-Uganda to get many of them out.  Like I say, it was a bad time to have our plane torn apart for maintenance.  But we were able to help.
I had a bit of excitement on Thursday when I inadvertently came upon a firefight.  Maybe 50 meters away shooting broke out right in front of me.  The guards at both our office and a MAF house I had just left right across the street, witnessed the scene and were pretty impressed with my driving skills.  They said they’d been very scared for me and hadn’t known a vehicle could go so fast in reverse.  I circled around town a long way out of my way to get home from the other direction.  One of the motorcycle taxi men on the way said, “You must go home!”  I told him I was trying to get there but the shooting was in my way.  I think he actually meant I should leave the country, thinking I was UN related.  Right now, it is not good to be considered either UN or complicit with the UN.   The church people have really stood up for many of the mission workers.  For the time being all MAF wives and children are being hosted by friends and co-workers in Uganda.
Feel free to pray for us here.  We need a lot of wisdom in times like this.

Another burnt vehicle next to UN properties. Even local people working for UN were looted.