Veteran pilot, Captain Judicat Jonas, who was the pilot-in-command on the B767-200ER flight that brought the 200 000 Sinopharm vaccines donated by China said the operation was an important one.
The flight consisted of 11 crew members – four pilots, two cabin crews, two engineers, load control, dispatcher and charters officer.
Speaking to The Herald on Tuesday, Capt Jonas said the crew’s key focus was to ensure that the preservation of the cargo until its final destination Harare. He said:
Knowing the urgency and critical need we have as a nation for this vaccine given the loss of many citizens due to the pandemic, this was a very important operation for the good and benefit of the people of Zimbabwe.
The entire flight was very smooth with no challenges faced, quick turnaround times on the ground and the aircraft was in a perfectly serviceable condition having recently completed a major maintenance check and great teamwork from the rest of the crew.
Our key focus was to ensure we keep the cargo hold temperature within the required range for the preservation of the vaccine, right until its final destination Harare.
Capt Jonas has a cumulative total of over 18 000 flight hours of which 10 145 hours are on the Boeing 767-200ER aircraft.
Meanwhile, the B767-200ER, also known as Chimanimani, landed at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport at 5.40 am on Monday.