'At your own risk': Pilot recounts Kabul airport evacuation

A Czech military pilot returning from Kabul on Tuesday described the difficult conditions of air rotations with Afghanistan, with no real air control, no possible supply of kerosene on site and with perilous takeoffs.

ByAfp|

This pilot, identified only as “Commander MM” on the website of the Czech Ministry of Defense which publishes his story, brought 62 people from Kabul to Prague on Wednesday. "I made a few unconventional flights, but this one was demanding and damn long," said the pilot who has 20 years of seniority in the army.

His Airbus brought back Czech soldiers, Afghan interpreters and their families, as well as four Afghans embarked at the request of Slovakia, neighboring the Czech Republic.

With no air traffic control worthy of the name in Afghan airspace, amidst heavy traffic over Kabul, “we had to keep our distance in the air and land one behind the other. We were looking for frequencies to communicate with each other”, explained the “Commander MM”.

No kerosene in Kabul

The temporary air traffic control system in Kabul was barely audible and decisions were left to the crew, with controllers merely giving information, each punctuated with an “at your own risk”.

The Airbus and its crew spent four and a half hours at Kabul airport. “We cannot count on kerosene in Kabul, so we filled the tanks in Baku”, in Azerbaijan, continues the pilot.

Despite hazardous conditions, in an airport plagued by chaos, takeoffs were rather well organized. “We formed lines for taxiing and take-off. I was following the TCAS, (on-board collision avoidance system), just like the others,” he added.

"It was an experience"

"You could see the distance between us on the TCAS monitor and that was, besides direct communications between crews, the main way of coordinating." “We didn't feel in danger, but the situation was really complicated, because of the conditions in Kabul. It was an experience”, considered the “Commander MM”.

In total, the Czech army transported 195 people from Kabul to Prague, during three flights between Monday and Wednesday. The third flight on Wednesday was the last, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told reporters on Thursday.