An airline pilot was cheered by passengers after he raided the takings of the bar and used his own money to pay the fees demanded by Senegal airport officials before they would allow the jet to fly home.
Captain John Lawrence was told to find two million francs (almost £2,000) by Dakar airport officials before the First Choice Airways jet was permitted to take off.
The 204 passengers were trapped on the plane for three hours as Mr Lawrence, 37, made repeated attempts to raise the money demanded by the authorities.
Flight FCA713 had landed at Dakar to refuel for its journey to Bristol after it had been unable to find supplies before leaving Banjul airport in Gambia. After the refuelling was complete officials at the airport made unexpected demands for a number of airport fees.
Mr Lawrence said yesterday: “I went to the cash machine in the terminal but it would not allow me to use my card. So I pulled together the cash float that we always carry together with my cash and travellers cheques and I asked the first officer for all the money he had.”
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After cashing all the travellers’ cheques he went to pay the fees only to discover that the airport would accept only the local currency. He then had to return to the airport terminal to have the money converted.
Three hours later he was back aboard the Boeing 757. However, by then it was dusk and the airport authorities demanded a further £200 to switch on the runway lights.
“I said to the head stewardess that we would have to take the money from bar takings of the outward-bound flight,” Captain Lawrence said. “Then it was back to the terminal to get it changed.
“It was an interesting few hours but the passengers were great. I made the announcements about what was happening from inside the cabin and they were cheering.
“If it had got any worse I would probably have had to go through the cabin with a hat asking for donations.”
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But the passengers’ woes were far from over as the delay in Senegal meant that it was too late to land at Bristol.
Instead the jet was diverted to Cardiff and the exhausted passengers were taken by coach to their destination. The scheduled six-hour journey ended six hours late at Bristol in the early hours of yesterday.
Terry and Sue Hague, who were returning from his daughter’s wedding, said that their fellow passengers began a lively discussion on what additional charges the airport might impose.
Mr Hague, 62, a project manager for a housing trust from Warwick, said: “The atmosphere was actually quite jovial on board but all the passengers were talking about how we were being held to ransom. There was also sorts of rumours flying about. Some people said that the airport would make us stay the night in Dakar and pay £200 each for a hotel room.”
Mr Hague and his wife, a 48-year-old practice manager for a law firm, said that the passengers were amazed to learn that the airport had demanded cash for refuelling.
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“You have got to admire the pilot for his initiative,” Mr Hague said. “When we finally took off the captain explained what had happened. It was certainly a great adventure and something to tell our friends.”
First Choice Airways said last night that it was holding an inquiry into why the pilot had been asked personally to pay the charges.
“We had spoken to Dakar several days earlier to say that we would be refuelling,” a spokeswoman said. “Normally there is no requirement to pay at the time because it is handled for us by a pan-African air-traffic-control company.”
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