South African Journalists who were initially stranded in Poland have revealed shocking details of their flight back home. One of the journalists reporting for TimesLIVE, Amanda Khoza, revealed that it seems they were being followed when they were in the Italian airspace.
She claimed that three aircraft were hovering around them as if they were escorting them out of Italian airspace. The journalists also said that they were flagged down when they were going to Poland while still flying over Italian airspace.
Amanda Khoza wrote, “SAA pilots ferrying us to South Africa have downplayed an incident we experienced on our way back home, where three unidentified aircraft circled our flight while flying over Italian airspace. It’s like we were being monitored or escorted out”. The journalists also took videos of the flight so that people will not dismiss their stories as unfounded rumours.
Many people of the crew, about 120 of them who were supposed to accompany president Cyril Ramaphosa on his Ukraine and Russia trip were stranded when they got to Warsaw Chopin Airport in Poland as they were planning to move to Kyiv to join the president.
They never joined the president all through his peace mission because of this. The journalists reported that it was three planes that were flying above them, circling them until they left the Italian airspace. Someone wrote, “Yes you were being escorted out of that airspace zone…Once a flight is red-flagged it’s treated that way, security protocols!… Are you guys sure it was a peace mission? It looks like it’s annoyance and looking to be scapegoats”.
However, another person dismissed it, saying that it is a normal routine. He wrote, “You really need to travel more and realise these things are normal. The sky is full of planes flying in all directions”.
SAA pilots ferrying us to South Africa have downplayed an incident we experienced on our way back home where three unidentified aircrafts circled our flight while flying over Italian airspace. It's like we were being monitored or escorted out. @TimesLIVE Video by @Dikeledi_Rams pic.twitter.com/StAThBkzIT
— Amanda Khoza-Dlamini – The Journalist (@MandaKhoza) June 18, 2023
SAA pilots ferrying us to South Africa have downplayed an incident we experienced on our way back home where three unidentified aircrafts circled our flight while flying over Italian airspace. It's like we were being monitored or escorted out. @TimesLIVE Video by @Dikeledi_Rams pic.twitter.com/StAThBkzIT
— Amanda Khoza-Dlamini – The Journalist (@MandaKhoza) June 18, 2023