Date Of Article: 10/15/2002
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The miraculous escape
By: Gospel Mwalwanda
Volande Coombes cannot believe her luck, if the 36-year-old Briton had won a million dollars in a state lottery, she would not be happier. At about 6.45 in the morning last Friday, Coombes, a lecturer at the College of Medicine in Blantyre, bid her two children farewell with a big hug, before leaving for Chileka Airport on her way to Lilongwe. Forty-five minutes later, Coombes and a fellow lecturer at the College of Medicine, Cambron Bowie, took off in a five-seater, single engine aircraft belonging to the latter, who was also piloting it. “We went to Lilongwe because we are setting up a masters (Degree) course in public health and we had a meeting with Ministry of Health officials,” Coombes said. “We landed at Lilongwe International Airport around 3.30 PM, soon after President Bakili Muluzi’s plane and the Kwacha had taken off. We were the third to take off.” Coombes, who still uses her maiden name, sat in the co-pilot’s seat. She said everything was going on well and when they were about 20 minutes away from Chileka Airport, Bowie radioed the airport to inform them of their position. But when they were about 15 minutes away from landing, hell broke loose. Said Coombes: “Bowie noticed that there was no oil pressure, I asked if it was a serious problem and he said it was.” What she heard rattled her, but she managed to get composed and remained quiet, resigned herself to rate. “I did not want to ask questions because I did not want to get answers that would have made me panic,” she said. Bowie again radioed Chileka airport, this time to inform them about their predicament, and also to ask for landing priority. “We were 9,500 feet above sea-level. We maintained the altitude. Then after five minutes, the engine stopped making noise and the plane began vibrating,” said Coombes. Bowie, according to Coombes, shut down the engine and tried to divert the plane to Matope airfield, about 10 km east of the old Matope road. But as fate would have it, they failed to locate the airfield because of poor visibility as the sky was hazy. They began losing height and it was then that the pilot decided to land in the middle of the road, after the Zalewa bridge. They crash landed at about 4.45 PM, 15 minutes after the engine developed the fault. “But as we were landing, I saw an articulated lorry around the corner, forcing Coombes to steer to the left to avoid being hit,” said Coombes. The lorry driver, whom Coombes described as competent, swerved to the right, but unfortunately, there was not enough room because of the size of the plane’s wings. This resulted in the truck ramming into one of the plane’s wings, ripping it off. The aircraft turned over and rolled for about 30 metres, with Coombes and Bowie inside. Coombes and Bowie were hanging upside down inside, fastened to their seats, when it finally came to a halt. What the duo feared most was an explosion, as planes usually do in such situations. But the plane did not explode, to their relief. Except for bruises and minor cuts, they came out intact. But Coombes was full of praise for Bowie. “Professor Bowie is a skilful pilot because he kept calm and managed to land the plane,” she said. Within minutes of their landing, about 500 people had crowded the scene. Coombes said it did not occur to her when the problem cropped up that she would die because of the manner Bowie handled the situation. “But later when I saw the plane, I realised how lucky we were. It was then that I felt bad—that I would have left my husband and children.” She looked composed when the Malawi News Agency visited her two days later at her residence in Nyambadwe, cuddling six-month-old Thea as her husband, Desmond Chavasse, and son Harry, six, relaxed at the swimming pool. Chavasse, Population Services International (PSI) resident director, said he could not believe his wife was alive, especially after he saw the plane. “Luckily for me, she called me after the accident to inform me her plane had crashed and that I should go to pick her,” Chavasse said. “I was then assured she was alive.” He said: “But when I saw the plane, I was amazed she had escaped with minor injuries. I thought about what my life would have been like without my wife.” Asked if she was not scared about flying after her ordeal, Coombes said she was, but she had no choice. “I will be flying to Europe in two weeks time,” she said. —Mana
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